Little Mummy
by Bluebell140
Summary: She's their big sister, a Senior in High School. So why does she feel and act more like their Mum? TROYELLA!
1. Helping Hand

**I'm sorry for how Life Changing: Again ended, I really am, but this is a fresh start, hopefully you'll like it!**

**I don't own anything, except the plot line.**

Helping Hand

Introductions…

Carlos and Maria Montez are high flying business people, always staying late at work or going away on business trips for weeks on end, having little, if any, contact with home and leaving their eldest daughter in charge of her four younger siblings.

Gabriella Montez is a senior in high school by day and a Mum to her siblings by night. She juggles her school work and love life on top of taking care of her siblings. She doesn't like her parents going away on business for such long periods of time and although she knows its part of their jobs, it bugs her when they're home in the morning and jetting off to another city by the evening, giving her no warning and often causing her to cancel plans with friends.

Joshua Montez is a seventh grader who like any of other boy his age is into sports and cars. Josh tries his best to help Gabriella around the house when his parents are away and for the most part he's very helpful, but Joshua has dyslexia meaning he finds reading and writing a lot harder than he should. He doesn't like asking for help though and won't ask Gabriella for help until he _knows;_ she doesn't have anything else to attend to, often leaving things to the night before they need to be handed in.

Poppy Montez is a third grader who is fully aware that her Mum and Dad aren't around as much as her friend's parents are. She's an incredibly bright little girl, but is very quiet as she's the middle child and is often overlooked by Carlos and Maria. But Gabriella, being Poppy's only sister and the person she looks up to, often helps her to come out of her shell and be heard over their brothers.

Alfie and Alex Montez are two year old twins who are identical in their looks and for the most part their personalities as well, but Alfie is much quieter than Alex, although together they really are a troublesome pair. The boys don't really understand where their parents are all of the time, just as long as someone will play with them, they're happy.

Troy Bolton is a senior in high school, captain of the basketball team and Gabriella's boyfriend. He knows how hard Gabriella is finding juggling everything and doesn't understand how Carlos and Maria can spend so much time away from their children. He's mostly annoyed when Gabriella has to bail out on their dates, last minute, to baby sit, when he knows she needs the time away from home to relax.

Anna Bolton, now Wicks is eight years older than Troy and loved him from the moment she first set eyes on him. Despite the age difference, the pair has always been close, even when Anna married her boyfriend of four years, Mike, a little over two years ago. Troy is close with them both, especially since the birth of his niece and god daughter, Louisa, nine months ago. He'll regularly go to his sister and brother-in-law for help and advice and they'll always do their best to give it.

Jack and Lucille Bolton have been friends with Carlos and Maria since their junior year of high school. The four have been close ever since and although they are still in contact now, ever since Carlos and Maria's career's took off, Jack and Lucille have seen and heard less and less from their friends. The couple have heard from Troy how often Carlos and Maria are away on business, they just don't know the effect it's having on their children or how long they are away for at any given time.

Now that you've learnt about the necessary people, it's time for our story to begin.

**TGTGTGTG**

A half day at school, everyone enjoys them, especially the pupils of East High, who have also been given a three day weekend as well, something to do with 'staff training.' The pupils didn't care what it was for; they had three and a half days off from school, why would they care what it's for.

Troy Bolton was one of those pupils and as he made his way down the corridor towards his girlfriend of nine months, Gabriella Montez, he couldn't help but smile, really widely. They had a date tonight, like they did most Friday nights, only Gabriella hadn't been able to make many of them recently and so tonight was going to be extra special, their parents had even said Gabriella could spend the night at Troy's…not for _that_, they hadn't taken that step in their relationship yet, just so that they could spend more time together and so Gabriella could have some much deserved time away from home.

As he approached her locker, Troy watched as Gabriella took her phone out of her pocket, read the message and then shoved it back in her pocket, seemingly not replying to the text.

"Hey beautiful, everything alright?" Gabriella shut her locker after putting her books in her bag and turned to Troy.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason, you ready to go?" The couple were using their afternoon off to visit Troy's sister and niece.

"Actually Troy, I can't come to Anna's and I can't make it tonight either, I'm sorry," And with that Gabriella turned on her heel and ran down the now empty corridor away from Troy. She _wanted_ to go tonight, she really _wanted _to spend time away from home with Troy, but she _couldn't,_ she was stuck playing Mum…_again._

**TGTGTGTG**

"Oh no Louisa, Uncle Troy's got his grumpy face on and he hasn't got Gabriella with him, this can't be good."

Anna had known Troy his entire life and had come to learn what each and every one of his facial expressions meant, the one that she was met with as he got out of his car that afternoon meant he was seriously hacked off.

"She bailed on me again," Troy got straight to the point as Anna opened the door to let him in.

"Did she say why? Have her parents gone away again?" Anna shut the door as Troy took his shoes off and then led him through to the lounge where Louisa was sat waiting for them in her play pen.

"I don't know, she didn't say, she just ran off before I got the chance to say anything back." Troy sat down on the couch as Anna lifted Louisa out of her play pen, but she was soon squealing and reaching for Troy and he was more than happy to have her on his lap.

"Do _you_ think it's her parents again?" Anna handed Troy Louisa's favourite toy and he held it out in front of her, letting her pull it's stretchy arms and legs.

"Yeah, she got a text just before I got to her locker, she didn't, reply to it though, just put her phone back in her pocket and that's usually how they tell her they've gone away, send her a text, that way she can't argue back and make them feel guilty."

"So what are you going to do then? She's probably upset because I'll bet you anything she was looking forward to tonight more than anything else this week and if you don't go and see her, or at least talk to her Troy, it's gonna make her feel even worse."

"Do you think Mum and Dad will let me stay over there tonight? It's not like Carlos and Maria care."

"They were letting Gabi stay over at home weren't they? I reckon you need to go home, explain and then head round there unexpected and help her out, looking after her siblings is hard at the best of times, it's gonna be even harder if she's upset 'cause she thinks you're angry at her."

"Do you think Mum and Dad will let me stay there all weekend? Considering we have Monday off as well," Louisa started squealing at Troy and so he put her down and let her crawl about at their feet, her toy firmly in her grasp.

"I'm thinking they'll definitely say yes, they don't get much time to themselves anymore. So you good now? No more grumpy Troy?"

"I was not grumpy," Anna's look told Troy that he most definitely was. "Okay maybe I was, but you've helped me out so thank you."

"No problem little bro, so now will you play with Lou while I get some stuff done upstairs?" Troy nodded and snatched up Louisa to entertain before she even got the chance to realise that Anna had left the room.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was eight o'clock when the doorbell rang through the Montez household and because his elder sister was busy upstairs, Joshua momentarily stopped his doing his homework so he could go and answer the door. Opening the door he found Troy Bolton standing there, his sister's boyfriend, now it all made sense, Gabriella was so quiet because she was supposed to have a date tonight.

"You were supposed to have a date tonight, weren't you?" Josh didn't bother saying hello; he got straight to the point.

"Yeah, didn't Gabi tell you?"

"No, she's been pretty quiet since I got home, are you planning on staying the night?" Josh asked, gesturing to Troy's sports bag.

"Yeah, if it's okay with you guys, Gabi was supposed to stay at mine tonight anyway, did your Mum and Dad go away again?"

"Yeah, to New York I think, I'm not sure, like I said Gabi's been pretty quiet, you might as well come in. Gabi will tell you to go again, but please don't, Alfie and Alex have been running around like loonies all afternoon, driving her crazy, she hasn't even had the chance to eat dinner yet, she's putting them to bed now, so it's best to leave her to it or the boys will go hyper again and that won't be helping anyone."

"No it won't, what are you and Poppy up to?" Troy put his bag down by the door and slipped off his shoes before following Josh through to the lounge.

"I'm supposed to be reading her a bed time story, but she picked a hard one and I can't read the words, so she's waiting for Gabi and I'm trying to do my homework," Josh sounded dejected, knowing that once again his dyslexia had let him down when it came to helping Gabriella out.

"How about you keep trying with your homework, while I read to Poppy and then once she's settled in bed, I'll help you with your homework before you have to head up as well?" Josh nodded eagerly and went back to his homework, while Troy pulled Poppy onto his lap and read her the best bed time story ever.

**TGTGTGTG**

She was at breaking point. She was tired, hungry and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry, but she couldn't, she had two more siblings to deal with first.

Apparently that wasn't quite true though, as she looked up to find Troy coming out of Poppy's bedroom.

"Troy, what are you doing here?"

"Lending you a helping hand, I've read Poppy a story and now she's asleep, so now I'm gonna help Josh with his homework while you eat your dinner, you hear me?" Gabriella nodded and wiped at her eyes before the tears had the chance to fall.

"Come here beautiful," Troy pulled Gabriella into his arms and she let a few tears free, she needed to have a little cry, Alfie and Alex had driven her to the edge and she was still angry at Carlos and Maria for making her cancel her date with Troy again.

"I'm sorry for running off earlier Troy, I was just so angry with Mum and Dad for making me bail on you again and I would've come to Anna's, but I had a load of homework to get done before I had to go and get the twins and I'm sorry."

"Sweetheart don't be sorry, it's not your fault, but listen, I'm gonna stay here all weekend and lend you a hand. Mum and Dad said it's okay and I doubt your parents would answer the phone if you called them so, if you'll have me, I'd like to stay." Gabriella nodded and wiped away her tears; she'd had enough of crying now, she rarely cried, she just didn't like how it made her feel.

"So, I'm gonna help Josh and you're gonna eat you're dinner, right?" Gabriella nodded again and allowed Troy to interlace their fingers as he led her downstairs.

**TGTGTGTG**

Josh had gone to bed, Gabriella was upstairs _somewhere_ and Troy was doing the washing up. He and Gabriella had ended up arguing over him staying because he'd offered to so the washing up and she felt like he was saying she couldn't cope, he knew she could, there was never any doubt in that, he just wanted her to have some quiet time to herself to relax. She'd walked out in the end, she'd gone upstairs and he hadn't followed her, they both needed time to calm down, Troy just hoped Gabriella had used that time to have a relaxing bath or shower.

Troy finished with the washing up and after wiping up and clearing round the worktops, he grabbed his bag from near the front door, where he'd left it and headed through to the down stairs bathroom to change into some basketball shorts and a baggy t-shirt to sleep in. He dumped his bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked through to the lounge to find Gabriella curled up on the couch.

"You're staying then," Gabriella looked in Troy's direction, but didn't lift her head to meet his eyes.

"I told Josh I would, he said you'd try and get me to leave, but you should now by now that I'm just as stubborn as you are, I was never gonna leave Brie."

"Good, 'cause I could really do with being in your arms right now," Gabriella still wouldn't look Troy in the eyes, but he could tell by how quiet her voice was that she was struggling to keep back the tears.

Troy didn't answer Gabriella, just smiled softly at her and took a seat next to her, but not before moving her hair brush out of the way first. "I'm doing this first though, right?" Gabriella nodded shyly and moved so that her back was facing Troy. It was one of Troy's secrets talents, being able to do girl's hair, only his family and the Montez's knew about it. It had come to light when Gabriella had badly sprained her wrist an wasn't able to grip her brush properly and so Troy had offered to do it for her, when she'd said she wanted it up in a ponytail as well, Troy had said he'd try but wasn't promising anything. Turns out, he's pretty good at it and can even do plaits and has been known to French braid Poppy's hair for her as well.

Tonight, Troy knew Gabriella would just want it in a ponytail, it was still damp from her washing it and she just wanted it out of the way as she slept and so a few short minutes later Gabriella got her wish and was curled up in Troy's arms.

"I'm sorry for being such a cow earlier Troy."

"Brie don't say that about yourself, you weren't being a cow, you just weren't in such a great mood, everyone is allowed to be annoyed sometimes, but please don't call yourself that, you didn't upset me, or I wouldn't still be here would I?" Troy poked Gabriella in the hip to get his point across, before resting his hand there and pulling her closer to him.

"No I guess not, how did Josh's homework go?" Gabriella nuzzled her face against Troy's chest, they were sitting in silence, other than their talking, and she was starting to realise just how tired she was.

"It went pretty good, it was only science so he could do the work he just couldn't read what the questions were asking him."

"He's supposed to be given extra help with stuff like that, they're supposed to give him the easier version of the worksheet or help him with it in class or give him an extension so he doesn't have to give it in so soon."

"Why don't they?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Certain teachers do, others don't, Mum and Dad know about it 'cause Josh and I have both told them multiple times but they never do anything about it and the teachers wouldn't listen if I said anything, so we'll just have to keep going as we are I guess." Troy sighed knowing there wasn't really much he could do to help Gabriella right now and so he pulled her even closer, if that was possible, and the pair sat in silence, until quiet whimpers were heard coming from the stairs.

"G-Ga-Gabi…" The pair looked up to find Poppy coming into the lounge, her blanket in her hand as she cried.

"Poppy sweetheart, what's up?" Gabriella and Troy broke their embrace so Gabriella could tend to Poppy.

"I h-had a nightmare and…and I want D-Daddy," Poppy began to sob loudly and so Gabriella picked her up and gently swayed from side to side in hopes of calming her down.

"Sweetheart, if you calm down and stop crying for me, I'll let you sleep in my bed with Troy and I tonight, would you like that?" Poppy nodded and lifted her head from against Gabriella's shoulder to wipe her face on her blanket and then wipe away the wetness she'd left on her sister's shoulder.

"How about you go and wait for us up there and we'll be up in a few, okay?" Poppy nodded and Gabriella put her down and waited until she was out of sight before collapsing into Troy's waiting arms.

"Every time Troy, every _flipping_ time, that they go away she has nightmares and every time she wants Dad, but she can't have him and that's why she's so upset because she can't be comforted by her Daddy because she's upset. She knows that all of her friends can have that Troy, she's not daft and yet she's so brave, but not when she has a nightmare, she deserves the comforting hugs like I used to get and she can't have them Troy and I hate them so much because I have to see her like that."

"I know you do Brie and I _wish_ that there was something I could do, but there isn't and it breaks my heart knowing how upset you are about it."

"Just being here is enough for us Troy, the twins will be so happy when they see you here in the morning."

"I'll be happy to see them too, but unless you want them jumping on us in the morning we should probably head up and join Poppy," Gabriella nodded and kissed Troy on the lips before checking everything was locked before allowing him to lead her upstairs.

Troy _hated_ seeing Gabriella and her siblings upset and hurting, he was finding it harder and harder not to say a few choice words to Carlos and Maria about how they neglected them all, but now…now he just wanted them all to be happy and enjoy their weekend and his plans were already beginning to formulate.

**TGTGTGTG**

**Well there's the first chapter for you guys, I hope you all enjoyed it.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	2. Moments

**The first chapter received such a great response, thank you all so much for reviewing and adding me to your favourites/ alerts, **_**please**_** keep it up!**

Moments

It wasn't often that Gabriella got to have a lay in and so when Poppy wiggled out of bed at eight o'clock on Saturday morning, Troy made the decision to follow her, knowing that if Poppy was awake Alfie and Alex would be too and there was _no way_ he was letting them anywhere near Gabriella this morning until she was up and out of bed.

Troy had slept in the middle of the bed last night, Poppy wanted to have a cuddle with him and he knew Gabriella did as well, so he took the middle of the bed and was able to wrap and arm round them both. Poppy had fallen sleep pretty much straight away and had soon rolled away from Troy to cuddle with her blanket, allowing Troy to wrap both arms around Gabriela, who was having a hard time in falling asleep. Eventually the day began to catch up with her and Gabriella finally gave in to sleep, thanks to Troy's comforting words and calming cuddle.

"Troy?"

"Yes Poppy?" Troy looked up to find Poppy coming out of the bathroom, next to Alfie and Alex's room.

"I think Alfie and Alex are awake, I can hear them."

"We better find out then, hadn't we?" Poppy nodded and followed Troy, as he opened the twins' bedroom door to find them both happily playing with their toy cars on their play mat.

It took a while for the boys to realise that the door had even been opened and when they realised it was Troy standing in the doorway with Poppy and not Gabriella, their toys were forgotten about. Gabriella was putting the boys to bed when Troy arrived last night, so they didn't even know he was here and the looks on their faces proved that.

"Can I have a hug then or what?" Troy crouched down to the twins' level and held his arms out, watching as they quickly scrambled to their feet and then pounced on him, knocking him backwards.

"Twoy!" It was clear they were both happy to see him, but Troy couldn't help but tickle them for knocking him over, making them giggle loudly and, he sound realised, risking waking Gabriella up as well.

"How about we continue this fun downstairs?" Alfie and Alex nodded, as Troy managed to stand up with them in his arms, before turning to Poppy who was still quietly stood in the doorway. "Downstairs it is Poppy, lead the way." The small girl nodded quietly and led the way downstairs. Poppy was naturally a quiet girl, Troy knew that, but today something wasn't right, something was bothering her and he was determined to find out what.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was half past nine when Gabriella appeared in the kitchen doorway to find her boyfriend preparing a cooked breakfast, while her brother occupied their younger siblings in the connecting dining room.

"Do I need to get the fire brigade on standby?" Troy chuckled at his girlfriend's statement and turned round to give her a hug as she made her way towards him.

"I'll have you know I'm a very good cook, thank you very much," He turned the stove settings down to low and wrapped his arms fully round Gabriella, after putting down his spatula. The couple stood in silence for a few minutes, enjoying being in each others arms and Gabriella taking the extra few minutes to wake up properly. "You're not falling asleep on me again are you Brie?" Gabriella shook her head and lifted it from against Troy's chest to prove it.

"Morning," She greeted him quietly, as she brushed some loose strands of hair out of her face.

"Morning sweetheart, sleep well?" Troy lifted Gabriella up onto the counter top next to the oven, so that he could keep an eye the breakfast, but continue chatting to her as well.

"Once I actually managed to fall asleep, it wasn't too bad thanks, how long have you all been up?"

"I got up when Poppy did at eight and we found that Alfie and Alex were up and playing with their cars, so I'm thinking they'd been up a little longer and then Josh joined us about twenty minutes ago."

"Thanks for letting me sleep in for a while, I needed it. Do you need any help with breakfast?"

"Erm, I don't think so, it's pretty much ready and everyone's got a drink, could you get me some plates though?" Gabriella nodded and jumped down from the counter, grabbing three proper plates and three plastics plates, before placing them on the counter for Troy to place food on.

Ten minutes later and everyone was seated round the dining room table and tucking into Troy's bacon, sausages, eggs and beans.

"This is really good Troy, thanks."

"It's no problem Josh, I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"Josh enjoys any type of food though," Gabriella said. "He's a bottomless pit." Troy chuckled as Josh flicked a baked bean at his sister.

"It's okay Josh, just use the excuse that you're a growing boy and need all the nutrients you can get, I do and it works every time." Josh gave Troy the thumbs up as thanks because he had a mouthful, he was definitely gonna use that one in the future.

"Poppy, you're really quiet this morning, are you okay? Don't you like the food? You can have cereal if you prefer." Gabriella had also picked up on Poppy's quietness and the fact that she was pushing her breakfast round her plate was also concerning her.

"I don't like the sausages or the eggs, I'm sorry."

"Its okay honey, can you eat the bacon and beans for me though?" Poppy nodded and after moving the sausages and eggs to the edge of her plate, happily tucked into her bacon and beans.

Troy could sense Gabriella's worry over Poppy and knew that something was seriously bothering the little girl for her to be put off her food, she loved sausages, they were some of her favourite foods, it was that reason why he'd cooked them and it was because of this that Troy decided he was going to speak to Poppy before they left the house for the day, he didn't like knowing she was upset, it wasn't the Poppy Montez he knew and loved.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy and Josh had decided that Gabriella needed a break and that today they would do all they could to make her life as easy as possible.

Alfie and Alex had requested a trip to the park and Troy had said it was a good idea, after remember there was currently a fair there as well. Josh had quickly dressed himself and then offered to take care of Alfie and Alex, giving Troy and Gabriella the chance to get dressed and then talk to Poppy.

"Do I seriously look okay? You're not just saying I do to make me feel better?"

"Brie, seriously sweetheart, you look amazing and beautiful, you're top is fine, please stop worrying." Gabriella and Troy had been dressed for a while now, but as Gabriella sat and sorted out her hair and make up, she started to worry that her top, which was white and ever so slightly see through, wasn't suitable for their day out.

"I can't, I'm a worrier, you should know that," Troy sighed and went to stand behind Gabriella as she sat at her 'hair and make up table.' He placed his hands on her shoulders and she lifted her head to connect their eyes in the mirror.

"I know you're a worrier, but you don't need to be, you look fine and I will keep telling you that until you believe me, alright?" Gabriella nodded and leaned back against Troy, raising her arms to wrap round his neck and pull his head down so their lips could meet in some kind of upside down kiss.

"Troy?" The couple pulled apart and turned to find Poppy standing in the doorway.

"Hey Pops, what's up?"

"Will you French braid my hair for me?" The young girl leant against the doorframe as she grasped her hair brush and hair band tightly in her hands.

"'Course I will sweetheart, why don't you come and sit at Gabi's table, she's done with it now." Poppy nodded and made her way into the room, passing her hair stuff to Troy on the way and letting Gabriella lift her up onto the stool.

"Alright Poppy, while Troy's doing your hair we need to have a chat and if you tell us the truth you can wear two of my bracelets today, okay?" Poppy nodded and looked at her sister as she leant against her table and remembered to sit still as Troy started on her hair. What she didn't see was Troy and Gabriella sharing a look, one which meant that Troy was going to start the conversation.

"So Pops, tell us why you've been so quiet this morning."

"Because Gabi is sad and upset and I don't like it."

"I'm not sad or upset sweetheart, why would you think that?"

"You were yesterday."

"I was just angry with Mum and Dad because I didn't know they were going away until they were actually gone and I was supposed to stay over at Troy's last night and because I had to look after you guys I couldn't and so I was just angry that I'd had to let Troy down again."

"Is that why you came over?" Poppy copied her sister's action from earlier, meeting Troy's eyes in the mirror.

"Yep, I wanted to spend some time with Gabi so I figured I would come over here and then I could help her look after you guys as well." Poppy seemed to think all of this over for a minute before speaking again.

"I don't like it when Mum and Dad are away, I miss them."

"I know you do angel, we all do, but its part of their job, there isn't much we can do about it."

Poppy sighed. "I know, but it's not fair that you have to be our Mummy while they're gone."

"I'm not trying to be your Mummy Poppy; I'm just trying to look after you all while they're gone."

"But you are being our Mummy because you do everything that Mummy does when she is here and Daddy I guess, you're like our Little Mummy." Gabriella was taken aback by this comment and chose that moment to go and clean her teeth.

"Alright Pops I'm done and I reckon you've done well enough to have two of Gabi's bracelets, just make sure they're the ones that stay on your wrists, okay?" Poppy nodded and took her brush from Troy as she started sifting through her sister's bracelets, while Troy went to talk to Gabriella.

He found her in her en-suite, trying her hardest to stop the tears from falling, but it seemed they didn't want to stop. Troy knew there weren't any words that could comfort Gabriella right now and so he silently pulled her against him and silently comforted her as she tried to think things through.

"I can't even put words to it Troy, she just told me I'm like their Mum and I know she said it in a good way, but I'm not trying to be their Mum, I shouldn't have to."

"I know you shouldn't sweetheart and I know you're not trying to, but you're clearly doing a good enough job of looking after them for her to feel that way."

"Yeah I guess you're right, I just…I don't know."

"Listen, don't worry about it right now, we're gonna go to the park and have a good day and me and Josh will do all the running around and you can sit and chat with Anna 'cause I invited her so you can have some 'girly' talk, I know you haven't had much of that recently with Shar being away." Sharpay, or Shar as she was known, was Gabriella's best friend, but she and her twin brother, Ryan, had been away in New York for over a week after their Grandma suddenly became seriously ill and so Gabriella hadn't had as much of a chance to have 'girly' chats as she usually would do.

"Why did you invite Anna? Hasn't she got better things to do, like spend time with her family?"

"Nope, Mike is at work today so she said she'd be happy to come out for the day, her and Louisa like the park."

"Okay then I'll let you off," Gabriella decided as she leaned up to kiss Troy's jaw. "Thank you for making me feel better."

"Anytime beautiful, anytime."

**TGTGTGTG**

Anna smiled softly as she watched her brother push her daughter on the swing, while keeping an eye on the others as they ran around him, being chased by Josh. She had been talking to Gabriella, but as they spoke it became increasingly obvious to Anna how little sleep Gabi had been getting and after persuading her to lay down on the blanket they were sat on, it wasn't long before the young brunette was curled up peacefully under one of Louisa's blankets.

Gabriella sleeping gave Anna time to think and she couldn't help but think about how Carlos and Maria bared to leave their children as often as they did. Sure, it was their job, but surely they could work it so at least one of them was at home or make arrangements so that Gabriella wasn't completely alone in taking care of her siblings. She knew that Carlos and Maria's lives had always revolved around their work, her parents had told her that, but she just couldn't grasp onto why they went away so suddenly, especially when they knew Gabriella had plans.

Gabriella said it didn't really bother her, she knew her parents needed to work, but Anna knew that deep down, Gabriella and the rest of her siblings missed their parents when they were gone and she knew that although Gabriella did a great job of taking care of them all, it truly wasn't the best way for the children to be brought up. She did know that Carlos and Maria leaving so suddenly all the time _did _get to Gabriella; she hated having to bail on Troy so much and although Anna had reassured Gabriella that Troy really did understand, she could still see the hurt in the young girl's eyes at not being able to spend some quality time with her boyfriend. Anna couldn't contemplate how the children were able to handle leaving home in the morning with their parents still there and go through their day not knowing whether they'd still be there when they returned home in the afternoon.

Gabriella's one fear it seemed, was what would happen when she left to go to college, her dream was to go to Stanford, but that was over a thousand miles away from Albuquerque, there was no way she'd be able to take care of her siblings from there. She'd told Anna that she'd voiced her fears with her parents and they'd simply told her not to worry about it, they'd deal with it when the time comes, but the time was getting pretty close. Gabriella, Troy and the rest of their classmates would soon be filling out and sending off college applications and she wanted to know what to do, should she apply to go to Stanford? Or should she just apply to go to U of A? She'd be nearer home and she wouldn't have to try and talk to her parents again, she said they didn't seem too concerned about her education anyway.

It was then that Anna realised just how much the seventeen year old had riding on her shoulders and just how much sleep she had been losing over it all, it was also at that moment that Gabriella chose to yawn and so Anna had persuaded her to lie down. That was over half an hour ago and Anna was still struggling to sort out all the thoughts that were running free in her mind.

"Your topic of conversation that boring?" Anna snapped out of her daydream to find Troy standing next to her with Louisa in his arms and the others not far behind.

"Ha-ha, no actually, we had a good old chat, but it seems that she's got a lot running through her mind Troy, a lot of things that have been making her lose sleep."

"I was afraid of that. She's a worrier Anna, she was even worrying about her top this morning and I knew that she had a lot on her mind and was worrying about stuff, she's always worrying about something, but she told me that she _was_ sleeping properly and so I took her word for it, I guess I shouldn't have taken her word for it so easily, I should've talked to her more about it or asked Josh even, I just didn't want to pester her and upset her."

"Well there's nothing you can do about now, she's asleep and that's what matters, what you need to work out is how you're going to get her home with waking her up too much."

"Simple, I'll give her a piggy back, I've done it before and it's not that far back to theirs from here, its fine." Anna laughed at how simple Troy seemed to find the task, but left him to it as she helped Josh strap the twins into their push chair and soon they were on their way home.

**TGTGTGTG**

Watching Alfie and Alex eat at anytime was entertaining, but watching them try to eat Chinese noodles was even more so. They were using their hands; Troy had given up on asking them to use a fork, and were both putting noodles into their mouths, chewing on one end while the other was still hanging out of their mouth.

"What a site." Everyone turned to find Gabriella standing in the dining room doorway, having only just woken up from being carried home.

"I should've cut it up for them, shouldn't I?" Troy asked, as he rose to do so, but Gabriella stopped him.

"No, it's fine Troy, their enjoying themselves and at least they're eating it, its fine."

"Okay, you'll let me fix you a plate though?" Gabriella nodded and walked round the table to sit next to Poppy, while Troy went through to the kitchen to get her some food.

"How was your sleep Gabs?" Josh asked, as he sat in between Alfie and Alex, having them sit together would only have caused a food fight.

"Yeah good thanks, how long was I out for?"

"A little over two and a half hours," Troy answered, as he came back in with Gabriella's plate of Chinese take away he'd ordered for them.

"Really? Did you carry me home from the park?"

"He gave you a piggy back Gabi," Poppy answered quietly from next to her sister.

"Well then how did you get home?" Gabriella asked, knowing Troy had given Poppy a piggy back there and promised her one back as well.

"Anna let me push Louisa's push chair, she had to help me though because I couldn't see over the top very well." Gabriella chuckled at how funny that must have looked and tucked into her dinner, enjoying this moment with her family.

Ten minutes later and it was only Troy and Gabriella left at the table, the others had all finished and so Troy let Josh off washing up duties as long as he kept an eye on his siblings in the living room instead.

"It's moments like that I wish they were here," Gabriella told Troy, as she finished eating and they headed through to the kitchen to start on the washing up.

"You mean the moments when nothing else matters?" Troy asked, as he lifted Gabriella up onto the counter top so she could watch as he rinsed things to load into the dishwasher.

"Yeah, that's why I got you to take a photo of Alfie and Alex because they were just so happy and enjoying themselves and its things like that, that Mum and Dad should see, although I guess they choose not to be here."

"You know its work baby girl, if they could get out of it, I'm sure they would."

"But surely at least one of them could be here with us?" Troy sighed, as he finished loading the dishwasher and then filled it with the right detergent before turning it on.

"That's something you'd have to ask them sweetheart," he told her quietly, as he moved to stand in between her legs and let her snuggle against him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I wonder what answer I'd get for that one…"

"It's a question worth asking though Brie."

"I know…thank you for carrying me home, by the way."

"No problem sweet girl, anytime. Now what do you say we go and join the others and create some more of those moments? We can take more pictures so your Mum and Dad can see."

Gabriella nodded. "I'd really like that."

And so the rest of the night, Troy put his photography skills to use, photographing the fun and laughter that took place, so Carlos and Maria would be able to share the memories…only he couldn't help but think that _at least one of them_ should be here to share it with their children as it happened.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is people, another chapter for you.**

**Cheer me up**___**big**_** time and:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	3. This Feeling

**I don't own anything…except the plot!**

This Feeling

Sunday was a quiet affair in the Montez household, Troy quickly popped home to pick up his proper camera equipment, rather than using his phone and returned with his parents in tow, they said they had nothing better to do and that it seemed like a nice day for a barbeque.

Jack had done and a great barbeque and when Gabriella had offered to do some side dishes, Lucille had kicked her out of the kitchen, telling her to enjoy some carefree time with her siblings and Troy. And so she had, they'd spent time in the pool, played on the jungle gym, chased each other round the garden with the hose and simple just had a good time, something Gabriella was beginning to think she'd forgotten how to do.

Now though, it's Monday morning and while Gabriella is still asleep in bed, Troy has been up since six forty five with the rest of the Montez children, helping them get ready for school and nursery. He made sure they had everything they'd need for their day and after making sure Poppy and Josh got on their buses alright, he left a quick note for Gabriella explaining where he was and then took Alfie and Alex to nursery. It's now half an hour later and he's hoping that Gabriella will say asleep that little bit longer so that he can wake her up and then give her breakfast in bed, today is going to be all about her, he wants her to realise that she's still allowed some Gabriella time.

Waffles with syrup and fruit and a mug of coffee were Gabriella's favourite thing to wake up to and so they were the items on the tray that he was currently carrying up the stairs to her, along with an extra mug of coffee for him of course. Gently pushing the door open with his hip, he found Gabriella lying exactly how he'd left her, curled up on her side of the bed, facing the side he had previously been lying on. Quietly he made his way round the bed and after putting the tray down on the bedside table; he kicked off his jeans and joined his brunette beauty back under the covers.

He started running his hands through her hair to wake her up, but was surprised when Gabriella let out a consent sigh. Smiling he leant down and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead causing her eyelids to slowly flutter open.

"Good morning," He greeted her quietly, feeling as though talking loudly would pop their little bubble.

"Morning," she replied, as her voice cracked and her eyes fluttered shut again. "Thanks for looking after them all." Gabriella's eyes remained shut as she snuggled herself closer to Troy.

"Ah, so you've been awake for a bit then?"

"I'm not sure, I saw the note and then I nodded off again, I feel really groggy, it's really hard to keep my eyes open."

"Do you feel ill?" Troy's concern only increased when he noticed the paleness of Gabriella's usually olive coloured skin.

"Not really, just groggy and slow, did you bring food with you?" Her eyes slowly fluttered open again and she reached up to rub them in an attempt to wake herself up more.

"Yep, waffles, syrup, fruit and coffee, you want?" Gabriella nodded dreamily and Troy helped her rearrange her pillows against the head board to lean against, before placing the tray on her lap, taking his coffee off of it and leaning back with her.

"This is really good Troy, thanks."

"No problem sweets, I wanted to give you a good start to your day 'cause today is all about you Brie, we'll do whatever you want."

"Can we just laze about the house in sweats all day? Eat junk food and watch some crap on telly?"

"If that's what you want sweetheart, then yeah, of course we can." Gabriella smiled happily and carried on eating her breakfast, offering the odd bit to Troy as she went.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Did Alfie and Alex go into nursery alright?" It was an hour later and Gabriella and Troy were curled up on the sofa, some kind of rubbish playing on the telly.

"Yeah, they ran straight in and started playing with the building blocks, they were fine, some of the other Mum's were giving me weird looks though, do they do that to you?"

"No, but then again they do know I'm their sister, they probably just don't know who you are, but it's fine Troy, the nursery staff know who you are and that's what matters." Gabriella cupped Troy's jaw and looked him straight in the eye. "Alfie and Alex love you, Josh and Poppy too; you're amazing how you treat them just like they were your own siblings. I don't care what those other Mums think, or what anyone thinks about us, I love you so much Troy, it doesn't matter what anyone else says." She ended her speech with a short sharp, yet mind blowing kiss, leaving Troy still trying to catch up while she cuddled herself back into his side. Troy was brought out of his stance though, when Gabriella's phone started going crazy on the coffee table.

"Hello?" Gabriella answered the phone in her usual bubbly manner, but as Troy watched and listened to her side of the call, he saw her face drop and immediately sat up next to her, wrapping an arm around her in support. When she ended the call she stared blankly at her phone before turning to Troy, looking even paler than she already had been.

"Brie, sweetheart? Who was it?"

"It was erm…Poppy's school, they said she fell over in the playground and that although she's not badly hurt she won't start crying and she keeps…she keeps asking for her little Mummy, they didn't know who she meant, but eventually she asked for me…they want me to go and get her."

"Alright then let's go, I'll drive and then we'll bring Poppy home and cheer her up, it'll be okay Brie, I promise." Troy placed a comforting kiss on Gabriella's temple before taking her hand and letting her run to get some shoes while he grabbed Poppy's car seat from Gabriella's car and soon they were on their way.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy and Gabriella walked with their hands laced together as they were led towards the school's nurses office where Poppy was being looked after until they arrived. Walking into the room, they found Poppy curled up in the nurse's arms, as they sat on the bed in the office.

"Gabi!" The relief in Poppy's voice was obvious to everyone and Gabriella was quick to walk over and pull her little sister into a hug.

"Hey sweetheart, they told us you fell over in the playground, are you okay?" Poppy shock her head and let her few more tears roll down her cheeks.

"I hurt my k-knees," Gabriella looked to Poppy's knees and found that the graze's had been taken care of and covered with plasters, so she bent down and quickly kissed them, earning a small smile from Poppy in return.

"There, all better now."

"And my hands," Poppy held out her hands, palms up, allowing Gabriella to see a few scrapes on her hands, where she'd put her hands out to stop herself from falling. Gabriella took Poppy's hands into her own and kissed the small scrapes on them, earning her another small smile from her sister.

"Alright sweetie, do you want to go back to class now?" Poppy shook her head, as the tears started to fall more heavily.

"I don't l-like it in there."

"Why not?"

"They all p-pick on m-me."

"Poppy you didn't tell me that." Gabriella looked behind her to see the school nurse coming back to sit next to Poppy. "I'm sorry I never introduced myself, I'm Marion, I'm the school nurse here, I've been looking after Poppy today."

"I'm Gabriella her sister and this is my boyfriend Troy." Gabriella said turning round to introduce Troy who was leaning against the doorframe.

"Ah, so you're the famous Troy, I've heard a lot about you. Anyway Miss Poppy, why do they pick on you?"

"'Cause my M-Mummy and D-Daddy are n-never home." Marion looked to Gabriella for confirmation.

"Mum and Dad go on a lot of business trips; they're not home as much as Poppy's friends' parents probably are."

"That doesn't mean they don't love you though Poppy, they love you very much." Poppy simply shrugged and leaned forward to snuggle against Gabriella for a hug.

"Alright, how about Gabi and Troy take you home for the rest of the day and I'll talk to your teacher and class room assistant and then tomorrow they'll be able to keep an eye on things, okay?" Poppy nodded and turned to hug Marion before sliding off of the bed and picking up her bag.

"Thanks for looking after her Marion; I didn't know they picked on her about Mum and Dad." Gabriella was now beginning to worry about how much their parents being away really did affect her siblings.

"It's no problem sweetie, it's my job and don't you worry, I'll make sure things are taken care of." Gabriella thanked Marion again, before turning to find Troy and Poppy already in the corridor looking at a display.

"You ready to go?" Troy asked her as she joined them and he picked Poppy up to be their height.

"Yeah, let's go," Gabriella's voice was soft and Troy could tell she was having a mental battle with herself, but he wasn't going to question her now, that was a conversation that needed to be had away from little ears.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Poppy please be careful, you'll fall off the stool." But as Poppy continued to laugh hysterically, Gabriella knew that no amount of warning was going to stop Poppy's laughter.

When they'd returned from the school, Poppy had been incredibly quiet and was very happy to curl up with Troy and Gabriella to watch the telly, but as time moved on, and she realised that for once all of the attention was solely placed on her, she started to cheer up and come out of her shell. She'd asked if they could have a picnic in the garden when they had lunch and so they did and whilst that was happening she'd asked if they could do some baking, that was why they were in their current situation.

Troy was trying to get the flour out of the cupboard, only it was on the top self, which he could reach…just. He managed to bring it to the front of the shelf with his finger tips, hoping to knock it out and then catch it with his other hand, only that hadn't happened, for once Troy didn't catch something and the flour missed his awaiting hand and landed straight on his head…that was why Poppy was currently laughing her head off.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Troy said between laughs, as he tipped his head forward so that the flour on his head ended up on the counter.

"Obviously," Gabriella replied calmly, as she moved to stand behind Poppy to stop her from falling off of the stool. "You go and get cleaned up while we clear up the flour, if we haven't got anymore any where _you__'__re_ buying a new bag." Troy saluted cheekily in understanding before heading upstairs to get changed. "Alright Pops, lets clean up _his_ mess and then we'll see what cakes we can come up with."

A little over an hour and a half later and Troy and the Montez sisters were sat around the kitchen island, preparing to ice their cupcakes. Luckily for Troy, more flour had been found and so now, thirty perfectly formed cupcakes were ready to be iced.

"Can you do one like a basketball Troy?" Different colours of icing had been prepared along with tubes of pre-prepared stuff and currently Poppy was stirring the orange icing, having a brother who played basketball as well as her sister's boyfriend, it was hard for her not to like the game.

"You know what Poppy? I actually can, Anna taught me how to do it, but don't tell anyone."

"But Trooooy, Gabi's here, she knows now."

"Its okay kiddo, she knew anyway, it was her I gave the cupcake to."

"Well that's okay then, can you ice it now?" Troy nodded and took the orange icing, soon turning the plain cupcake into a perfect looking basketball.

"There you go Poppy, you can have this one."

"Really? Thanks Troy." Poppy said as she leaned over to give him a hug.

"Sorry to ruin the moment guys, but we need to ice the rest of the cakes before we have to got and get Alfie and Alex," Troy and Poppy both sighed but set about decorating the cakes, _all_ different colours.

**TGTGTGTG**

Later in the day, after dinner, Troy told Josh he was in charge of his siblings, before heading outside to find Gabriella. He'd not long ago received a phone call from Lucille, telling him she wanted him home by eleven because he had school tomorrow, but she wanted him to stay and help Gabriella get the others settled first. He'd thanked her for extending his homecoming time by half an hour and told her he'd phone home as he left the Montez's, so they knew to look out for him. It was after he told her this news that Gabriella had left the room and gone outside claiming she needed some air, Troy knew that really the reality of her looking after her siblings alone had just set in. He found her curled up in one of the big garden chairs around the table on the decking and so he walked over to her, held his hand out and pulled her up from the chair, only to take her place and pull her down into his lap. She immediately curled her legs up and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"You know that if I could stay another night I would, but Mum doesn't like me staying out on school nights and my school stuff is at home anyway."

"I know that Troy, I understand that Lucille wants you home, it's just made me realise that I really will be in charge round here for the rest of the week now."

"You'll be okay Brie, they love you and respect you and nine times out of ten do as they're told, you're great at taking care of them."

"I know, but I just don't feel right Troy, I don't feel right in myself and I've got this feeling in the pit of my tummy that something just isn't right with someone, I just don't know who."

"I'm sorry sweetie, I really wish I could stay, especially 'cause you aren't feeling right."

"I think I'm probably tired, will you tuck me in before you leave and then lock the door on your way out?"

"Of course I will and then I'll text you when I'm getting into bed and I'll phone you tomorrow morning to make sure you're up and that everything is okay." Gabriella nodded and cuddled herself closer to Troy, enjoying being in his arms.

"When Mum and Dad come back I'm gonna tell them about everything, about how Josh isn't getting enough help with his school work, about how Poppy calls me Little Mummy and how she's being picked on at school. I don't want you here when I do it…no I do, but it's something I need to do alone, it needs to just be me and them, they need to know that I'm serious, but I know that I'm gonna get upset and angry when I tell them so can I come to you afterwards? If I tell you before I speak to them will you make sure you're home so that I can come straight to you? You won't have to say anything, just hold me and let me rant if I want to."

"I'll be there baby and you know it." Troy finished his statement with a kiss on Gabriella's head, causing her to lift it up and look him in the eye and it was only then that he realised she'd been crying.

"Good, 'cause I don't think I could get through it without you," Gabriella crumpled against Troy and he held her as she cried, a cry he knew she needed and so he purely held her tightly against him and reassured her that no matter what he'd always be there.

**TGTGTGTG**

But that night Troy wasn't there as Gabriella cried herself to sleep. She had that feeling in the pit of her tummy again and it was getting stronger, like something really bad was going to happen, something that would be life changing.

At one point she felt like she was going to be physically sick and had even moved to sit in her en-suite until the feeling passed and when Troy text her to say good night, she replied with a simple good night, before crawling back into bed and letting her fearful tears fall.

But as Gabriella finally found sleep, little did she know that the feeling in the pit of her stomach was all to real and that by this time next week, her life will have changed forever.

**TGTGTGTG**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	4. Crashing Down

**Thank you so much for all of your reviews everyone, they've really helped me out recently.**

**Although I don't mention them by name, when I'm talking about Troy and Gabriella's friends, I'm talking about my usual six; Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Zeke, Ryan and Kelsi. **

Crashing Down

Today is Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday, which means it's nearly the weekend, something Troy couldn't be more thankful for. It had been a tough week for Gabriella and although she wouldn't admit it, he could tell she was just about ready to drop.

Although he hadn't been able to stay at the Montez's over night, he'd gone there every night after basketball practise and had helped Gabriella with dinner, even cooking the meal himself some nights, and then they helped with homework and such, before going through bath and bedtime together, some thing Gabriella had been more than grateful for. Lucille had even extended his weeknight curfew to eleven, giving him that little bit more time to be with Gabriella, although most nights that had meant tucking her in bed and laying with her until she fell asleep, things seemed to be catching up with her more and more as the week went by.

It was now nearing the end of free period and while Troy had been with the boys practising, as the girl's sat on the bleachers and watched them, Gabriella had been called to the principle's office and no one was sure exactly why. Sharpay and Ryan had come back to school on Tuesday and although Gabriella and the other girls in their group were good friends, ultimately she and Sharpay were best friends, and so Troy was happy that Gabriella had someone other than himself to talk to, especially when it came to all the girly things he had absolutely no idea about.

Now though, Troy was at his locker getting his books together for his next class, Drama with Ms Darbus. It was an easy class, they had to read a few scenes, occasionally act a few of them out, basically as long as they didn't misbehave and did the work when they were asked, they passed the class. All eight of the gang were in this class and so Troy had arranged to meet Gabriella at his locker five minutes before the bell went, so they could catch up as they made their way to class without having to rush, what he didn't expect to see as he looked up to find Gabriella coming down the corridor, was her crying, hysterically.

**TGTGTGTG**

She wasn't sure why the principle wanted to see her or why she had to go alone, but it was just one of those things and the sooner she got it over and done with, the sooner she would be back with the gang.

Entering the principle's office Gabriella found not only the principle, Mr Matsui, but the school's counsellor as well. Mrs McLeary, or Lorna as she liked to be called was a lady in her late forties with a big heart, she tried to remember as many students names as possible and always had her door open for anyone who wanted to pop in for a chat, no matter how big or small their problem was, she was always there to help.

"Gabriella," Principle Matsui greeted her. "Please take a seat." Wearily she took the seat next to Lorna's, in front of the principle's desk, self-consciously wrapping her arms around her waist, something wasn't right, why would Lorna be here if everything was okay?

"I'm afraid we've got some bad news for you, we just received a phone call from a hospital in New York. The nurse was phoning on behalf of your Father, asking us to tell you that a short time ago your Mother passed away, I'm so very sorry to be telling you this Gabriella."

And in that one moment, Gabriella's whole world came crashing down around her.

She had no idea how to react, she had so many questions forming in her mind, but she just couldn't vocalise them, her voice didn't want to play ball. Lorna seemed to pick up on this though and filled Gabriella in on the most obvious question, how?

"She died of cancer Gabi. I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but it seems your parents thought it was better off that you and your siblings didn't know about her illness. Your parents _were_ in New York on business, like they'd told you, but your Mum's health took a turn for the worse and she passed out, when they admitted her to hospital her body was struggling to cope and so they put her under sedation, but her heart couldn't cope with the strain and it stopped beating, they tried their best to revive her but there was no hope, I'm so sorry sweetheart."

Gabriella felt like she was about to throw up, her Mum had been battling cancer, for who knows how long, and her parents hadn't bothered to tell her. And now, her Mum was dead, gone, she wasn't coming back. She'd never be able to see her again, hug her again, tell her she loved her again. Her head was spinning and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe and so…she ran.

She shot up from her seat, shot out of the room and ran, ignoring her struggle to breathe and ignoring the shouts from Lorna, she just ran. She ran as fast as her weakening legs would carry her towards Troy, she just needed Troy.

And she found him, exactly where she thought he would be, he was early, but he was there and couldn't have been more thankful.

By the time he turned to look at her, she was hysterical and seriously struggling to breathe, but somehow her legs carried her that little way further, as Troy met her half way down the corridor, where she found the safety of his arms and collapsed into them, her breaths short and sharp.

**TGTGTGTG**

As she collapsed in his arms, Troy could feel Gabriella's rapid heart beat and hear her short, sharps breaths as she cried, he had absolutely no idea what had gotten her into this state, all he knew was that he needed to regulate her breathing…and fast.

"Gabriella, look at me sweetheart, look straight at me angel please," Troy held Gabriella at arms length, keeping a firm grip on her shoulders to steady her, while making sure she kept eye contact. "That's it sweetheart, now I need you to take some deep breaths for me, in and out, slow and steady, that's it, good girl." As Gabriella followed Troy's instructions and her breathing began to regulate, he felt relief wash over him, he'd never seen her in that state before and he didn't want to see her in that state, _ever_again.

Although her breathing had calmed down, Gabriella's tears were still coming on thick and fast and at a loss of what else to do, Troy simply held her against him and let her cry, there was no way he was going to get anything out of her in this state.

"Troy, thank goodness she found you," looking up Troy found Lorna walking briskly in their direction.

"I don't understand, Mrs McLeary, why is she in such a state? What's going on?"

"She's just had some devastating news Troy, bring her to my office and I'll explain everything to you because there's still some stuff Gabriella herself hasn't heard, she left before we could tell her." Troy nodded fearfully and picked Gabriella up bridal style, he'd left all his books in his locker when he'd first seen her and so he cradled her against him, shushing her once he began to feel her tears soak his t-shirt.

He'd never seen her in this state before, _ever,_ something seriously bad had happened and Troy was already fearing the worst.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy had been right to fear the worst, only his worst wasn't _the_worst.

Gabriella had stopped crying by the time they reached Lorna's office, but she wouldn't leave Troy's side, she needed the comfort only he could give. She also hadn't spoken and that worried him the most, he needed to know what she was thinking, especially now, but she wouldn't talk to him or look him in the eye. He was hoping she just needed time, if anyone; he'd be the only person she would speak to, but if she wouldn't speak to him, then Troy didn't know what to do.

He was completely lost for words when Lorna told him the news, he couldn't understand how they could keep something from their children, okay so many the younger three wouldn't understand, but surely Josh and Gabriella had the right to know, to be prepared for the worst. But they hadn't been, and that's why the news had knocked Gabriella for six, she had no idea what so ever that this was coming her way and that's why the state she was in when she found Troy was completely justified.

Lorna had gone on to tell them that Carlos would be flying back on Friday, as planned, but that Maria's body would be transferred to the hospital in Albuquerque later tonight. She had then moved onto the stuff Gabriella hadn't heard, explaining that due to the nature of the situation it was no longer fair for Gabriella to be in charge of her siblings and that they would move in with the Bolton's. With Jack being a teacher at the school, they'd easily been able to get hold of him and after a quick call home to Lucille, it was decided that the Montez children would stay with them for the unforeseeable future. The only thing that Carlos had specified in his message from the hospital was that Gabriella would be the one to tell her siblings. Gabriella hadn't had any response to this, other than a small nod in understanding, but Troy knew that it wouldn't be easy for her, especially when it came to telling Josh.

After talking for just over half an hour and making sure that Gabriella and Troy both understood what was going on, Lorna told them they had permission to leave the school and that Gabriella wasn't expected in school tomorrow. So, after a quick trip to their lockers, Troy silently led Gabriella out to his car, where he helped her to settle in and just before he shut the door, leant in to give her a kiss.

"Troy?" Gabriella's voice was quiet and hoarse, but Troy heard her none the less.

"What's up sweetie?"

"I love you."

"I love you too angel, so so much," Troy found it hard to keep his emotions in check, as he leant in and kissed Gabriella on the forehead, before shutting the car door. As he walked round to the drivers side of the car, he took a few deep breaths, today was going to be a long day, a _really_ long day.

**TGTGTGTG**

As Troy pulled into the Montez's driveway, he found his Mum standing on the front porch and suddenly he felt that little bit better, with her around things were always that little bit better.

"Hey Mum," He greeted her as he rounded the car and Lucille came down the porch steps to greet him with a hug.

"Hey sweetie, how's she doing?" Troy looked to where Gabriella was still curled up in the car.

"She hasn't said much, just told me she loved me, I'm hoping she'll open up a bit before the others come home."

"Lorna just phoned me, how is she after her near on panic attack?"

"Better, much better, she'd stopped crying before we got to Lorna's office and she hasn't cried since, I'm not sure whether that's good or bad, but as long as she doesn't get into the state she was in earlier, I think I can cope."

"Well when I spoke to your Dad earlier, he said he'd go and pick up Alfie and Alex and so I phoned the nursery and they said as long as he has I.D. with him he's fine to pick them up and he has his driving license on him so he's fine and the boys know him so they'll go with him. Now, if you get Gabi out of the car, we'll have a chat and help her decide how she wants to tell the others, then once they're all home and have been told, we'll pack them some stuff and head back to ours, alright?" Troy nodded and made his way back over to the car, which Gabriella was already getting out of.

"I'm sorry I've been so quiet," She didn't look as pale as she had earlier and for that Troy was grateful.

"Its fine beautiful, I wasn't expecting you to be talkative," Troy pulled Gabriella into a hug and she happily settled into his embrace. "How do you wanna do this sweetheart? You wanna talk about how you're feeling? 'Cause you really should you know."

"I know and I will, just not yet, I need to work out how I'm going to tell the others and get through that first, then I'll tell you how I'm feeling, maybe when we're at yours later. Have you _got__to_ go to school tomorrow?"

"Probably sweetheart yeah, but I'll be in contact with you as much as I can and Mum will be home with you and you get on well with her so it'll be okay."

"Yeah I know, just your hugs are the best." Troy chuckled and buried his face in Gabriella's hair for a minute, just holding her and giving her the comfort she needed. "Do you think your Mum will give me a 'Mum' hug? I could really use one right now."

"I'd say so, you go and say hi and I'll get our bags from the car," Gabriella nodded and tiptoed up to kiss Troy, before heading over to Lucille who was now back on the porch.

"Hey Lucy," her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

"Hey sweetheart, come here," Lucille held her arms open in invitation and Gabriella didn't hesitate to walk into them, revelling in the comfort only Mum's could give. "Why don't we head inside and chat about what's going to be happening for the rest of the day and we'll work out how you're going to tell the others." Gabriella nodded to this and let Lucille lead her inside, closely followed by Troy, who was now really pleased that his Mum was here. Gabriella could get through this with his support and he could get through it with Lucille's.

**TGTGTGTG**

"I want to tell them all together at the same time, I'll tell them Mum won't be coming home and that she's an angel up in the sky now, I think that's simple enough for the twins and Poppy to understand and I'm sure Josh will get the message, I'll talk to him a bit more about it later on as well. Do you think that's the right way to do it?"

"If it feels like the right way to you honey, then it's the right way," Lucille assured her with a gentle pat to the knee, as Gabriella sat curled up on Troy's lap, not ready to leave the safety and comfort of his arms.

"Is it right that I'm really angry at them right now? Especially Dad, I mean it feels wrong to be angry at Mum, but I still am and I felt like I'm being selfish because I am."

"I'd say it's perfectly reasonable Gabi, I don't agree with a lot of things your parents have been doing recently, especially how they've hidden your Mum's illness from you, but now's not the right time to talk to your Dad about it, he's just lost his wife, he's just as upset as you are sweetie."

"I know Lucy, I just wish that they'd at least told me about the cancer, then I could've been prepared for anything that might have happened because of it, not necessarily her dying, but I could've just been ready for it, just in case…UGH, I can't do this Troy, I really can't."

"You can beautiful, you really can, your Dad specifically asked for you to tell them and I think they'll accept it more if it comes from you. I'll be here with you if that's what you're worried about, I'm not gonna leave your side at all sweetness…unless you want me to that is."

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't want you to go anywhere Troy, please don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere sweet lady, I promise."

In just a few short hours Gabriella's world had come crashing down around her, but how she was going to actually explain that to her siblings…she had no idea. It would break their hearts, but she would be there for them, all of them because now…she really was their 'Little Mummy.'

**TGTGTGTG**

**I know it's kinda short, but that's the point, to make an impact, to make it dramatic…and cause I wanted to update.**

**Happy belated Birthday Zac!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	5. I'm Sorry

**Thank you all so much for your reviews!**

**I don't own anything, except from the plot :)**

I'm Sorry

There was still some time to spare before all of her siblings arrived home and so when Gabriella announced she was going to go upstairs and start packing their belongings for their stay at the Bolton's, Lucille offered to help her and Gabriella agreed. She felt as safe with Lucille as she did with Troy, she was the next best thing and besides she wanted Troy to go and meet Poppy and Josh from at their bus stops, she wanted him to warn them that something had happened and not to worry when they came home and saw her looking slightly upset.

Troy hadn't wanted to leave her, but she wanted him to be the one to meet them, if she did it she knew she'd break down and if Lucille did it then she knew Josh would immediately know something was seriously wrong, Troy had met them at their bus stops before, Josh would suspect something, but not something that had him running home to find out. And that was why Troy was currently walking down the street towards the corner, where the road met another and Poppy's bus would stop. He didn't have to wait long, before the bus arrived and Poppy got off along with three others.

"Troy!" The little girl had only just seen Troy, but she was clearly happy that he was there.

"Hey Pops, did you have a good day?" Poppy nodded and took Troy's offered hand as they began to walk down the street away from home.

"Are we going to meet Josh?"

"Yeah, there's something I need to tell you both before we go home and Gabi's a little upset about it, so she wanted me to come and meet you guys so you don't go in asking her loads of questions, alright?" Poppy again nodded and the pair continued their walk in silence.

Josh was just getting off of the bus when they arrived at the stop and he was as shocked as Poppy was we he turned and saw them both there.

"What's going on?" Troy chuckled slightly, Gabriella had warned him that Josh would know something was up, all he needed to do was keep him calm until they got home and they she'd be able to explain.

"Gabi told me you'd know something was up, that's why I came to meet you both. Something bad has happened guys and I'm not allowed to tell you what it is, Gabi just wanted me to warn you that she is a little bit upset, but she doesn't want you to ask her loads of questions 'cause once my Dad is there with the twins she's going to explain everything anyway, okay?" Poppy and Josh both nodded and after Poppy made Josh hold her hand as well, they started the walk home, it was quiet, other than talk about what they'd all done at school.

When they arrived back at the house, Poppy ran up the path to meet Lucille who was standing at the front door, but Troy stopped Josh before he could follow her.

"Look Josh, I'm not gonna lie to you, what happened, it's gonna hurt, but don't get angry and don't block us all out, we're here to help you, okay?" Josh nodded and allowed Troy to lead him to the house with his arm round his shoulders.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jack, Troy and Lucille all stood in the living room doorway as Gabriella sat with her siblings gathered around her on the couch. They watched as she pulled the twins up onto her lap and after making Josh sit next to her made him let Poppy sit on his.

"Alright guys, I've got some sad news to tell you. Earlier on today Mum collapsed and so they took her to the hospital, they tried to make her better but it didn't work and so now she's up in the sky with the angels." Gabriella tried her best to stop the tears from falling and she figured that by keeping things simple, it would be easier for everyone involved, she planned to explain things better to Josh later.

"Mummy's gone?" Alfie asked, his brown eyes looking up at Gabriella sadly.

"Yeah buddy, Mummy's gone, I'm so sorry guys," Gabriella knew that Alfie and Alex really didn't know what was going on, but they could sense the sadness coming from their siblings and so cuddled themselves closer to their oldest sister.

Poppy was old enough to understand that Maria had died and wasn't coming back and had already made her way over to Lucille for a cuddle.

Josh had understood everything perfectly, but didn't know how to react, he wanted to cry, but boys weren't supposed to cry. Everyone was watching him, waiting for his reaction, so he ran; he got up and left the room, much like Gabriella had left the principle's office earlier in the day.

He went through the kitchen and out the back door, running down the porch steps and out into the garden, where he finally let the tears fall. He made his way down to the end of the garden and collapsed against the fence as he let the painful sobs escape his body. No one could have prepared him for what Gabriella had just told him, no amount of preparation could help you accept that you would never ever see your Mum again.

He wasn't sure how long he was sat out there before he heard the back door open and shut and knew someone was approaching, he wasn't sure who it was, he had his head resting on his arms which were resting on his bent knees. He didn't move from that position, but when someone gently knocked against his shoes with their own, he lifted his head to find Troy standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Mind if I sit?" Josh shock his head and wiped at the lingering tears on his face, as Troy sat down on the grass next to him.

"Is Gabi okay?" Josh didn't make eye contact with Troy and Troy didn't try to make eye contact with him, they just stared out over the garden.

"Yeah, she wanted to come out and see you herself, but Poppy started getting really upset and wanted a hug from Gabi, so she's looking after her right now, which is why you're stuck with me."

"I'm glad it's you, I wouldn't talk if it was your Mum or Dad."

"That's fair enough, but you don't have to keep everything to yourself Josh, we're all here to help you and Gabi is going to talk to you more later on, she just didn't want to make things too complicated when she was telling the others."

"Why did she have to tell us? Why couldn't Jack or Lucille do it?"

"Because your Dad asked for her to tell you all, otherwise one of my parents probably would have done it."

"Are Alfie and Alex okay?"

"Yeah, they know something isn't right, but they aren't old enough to completely understand what's going on, they know you're Mum is gone, but that doesn't really mean anything to them right now, so although they're a bit quiet, they got off of Gabi's lap not long after you left and made my Dad play with them, so they're alright. They might start to understand things a bit more when your Dad comes home and your Mum isn't with him, but it'll be as they start to get older, that they'll start to understand."

"When's Dad coming back?"

"Tomorrow, as planned, so you guys are going to stay with us tonight and if you don't want to, I doubt that you have to go to school tomorrow either, Gabi doesn't have to if she doesn't want to." Josh didn't answer Troy that time, he had so much running through his head that he was struggling to process it all. Troy could sense how much Josh was struggling and told him the one thing he knew he needed to hear.

"Josh, I'm not gonna think any less of you if you cry, you're going through a big loss, I'd be worried if you didn't cry." That was all it took for Josh to let the pooling tears fall from his eyes, as his head dropped back into his arms and his shoulders began to shake with sobs. Troy knew there wasn't much he could do and so he wrapped an arm around Josh's shoulders, giving him a slight squeeze and simply just let him cry.

**TGTGTGTG**

That evening and everything was quiet in the Bolton household. Jack was reading Alex and Alfie a bed time story while Lucille was helping Poppy with her bath and Gabriella was heading outside with two bottles of water to interrupt Josh and Troy's very intense game of one-on-one.

"Time out!" She called to them, as she made her way across the garden to the Bolton's mini basketball court. The boys stopped playing and made their way over to Gabriella, happily taking the bottles of water she offered them.

"So who was winning?" Gabriella asked, as the boys guzzled down their water.

"Josh," Troy answered breathlessly, as he flopped down onto the grass next to the court and was soon joined by Josh and then Gabriella, who sat in between them both.

"Are you okay to talk now?" Gabriella asked her brother. "Or did you want to get showered and changed first?"

"No, now's good." Josh took a moment to think before asking the one question that was at the forefront of his mind. "How did it happen? How did Mum die Gabs?"

"It was cancer…I know, I'm as shocked as you are, but apparently they've been keeping it from us."

"Why would they do that? Don't we have the right to know something like that?"

"I don't know why they did it and I would've thought we had the right to know, but they choose not to tell us, I don't know why."

"How did it happen though? All of it, how did she end up in hospital in the first place? You said she collapsed?"

"Yeah…they _were_ in New York on business, like they'd told us, they weren't lying about that, but Mum's health took a turn for the worse and she passed out, when they admitted her to hospital her body was struggling to cope because it was so weak from the cancer and so they put her under sedation, but her heart couldn't cope with the strain and it stopped beating. They tried their best to revive her but there was no hope, I'm so sorry Josh." Gabriella hated to see her brother cry and so pulled him into a hug, one he soon returned as he wrapped his arms round her as well.

"I don't understand," Josh finally spoke, as they pulled out of their embrace and he wiped at his tear stained face. "There's so much I want to be angry at Dad for, but that's not fair is it? Because he's just as upset as we are."

"I know bud, I feel the same way and we _will_ talk to Dad about it at some point, there are some things that _need_to be said."

"Is it okay if we stop playing Troy? I don't think I can concentrate anymore."

"Yeah it's fine mate, go and have a long shower, I've got an en-suite so you don't have to worry about me wanting to get in."

"Alright, thanks Troy," Josh got up and helped Gabriella to her feet as Troy got up as well.

"Let's say good night now Josh 'cause we're gonna hide out in Troy's room for the rest of the night," Josh smiled slightly as he hugged both Gabriella and Troy goodnight. "You can watch telly in the lounge if you want though, Jack and Lucille have a telly in their room, so they won't mind and you obviously can't watch it in yours."

The Bolton house hold had one less bedroom then the Montez's and so while Poppy was able to sleep in Anna's old room and Gabriella had been allowed to share with Troy, Josh was having to share the spare room with the twins, this didn't bother him, but it did mean he couldn't lay in bed and watch the telly like he could do at home.

"Alright then, thanks," and with another quick hug with Gabriella, Josh headed back into the house, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone in the garden.

"Fancy a game?" Troy asked, as he walked across the court to pick up his ball which was now resting against the fence.

Gabriella chuckled at him as he span the ball on his fingers on his way back towards her. "Not really babe, but if you want to practise some free throws, I'll sit here and watch you."

"No I'm good; it was just an excuse to get close to you."

"And how would you do that exactly? Isn't basketball supposed to be a non-contact sport?"

"Yeah, but rules are made to be broken."

"So?" Gabriella asked still not getting Troy's point.

"So, I would block you and then maybe grab you and sneak a hug out of you as well."

"Well you can sneak as many hugs out of me as you want upstairs…after I've got changed and you've showered, you kinda smell."

"Fine," Troy sighed. "Lets go," He tucked the basketball under his right arm and held his left hand out to Gabriella, who took the water bottle from it and slipped her hand into his, letting him lead her slowly back inside.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella sighed _again,_ as she tried to get comfortable under the covers. She couldn't get to sleep, okay so she'd only been trying for about twenty minutes, but she felt so tired that she'd hoped she'd fall asleep pretty quickly, but she hadn't and now she was getting frustrated.

"Come here pretty girl, come on, lets get you comfy."

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't wanna hurt you."

"Sweetheart, you won't hurt me you're really light…please, come on; you know it'll help you sleep better." Gabriella sighed and sat up under her covers.

Gabriella was the type of person who would get cold very easily and so the pair had quickly discovered that if she lay on Troy and he pulled the covers up over her she would warm up pretty quickly. But lying like this also made Gabriella feel safe because not only would Troy wrap his arms round her but their legs would intertwine as well and she just felt like nothing could get to her while they were in that embrace; her only issue was that she feared she weighed too much to be lying on Troy all night.

"Come on sweetness, I promise you, you hardly weigh anything," Gabriella sighed knowing Troy had won this one and so moved herself over to Troy, gently laying down on top of him and settling her head over his heart. She let out a content sigh, as she felt Troy pull the covers back over them and his arms wrap tightly around, as their legs intertwined.

"I'm sorry for being such a nuisance Troy."

"You _are__not_ being a nuisance _at__all_ baby girl, I just want you to be comfortable and get some sleep, I also want you to stop apologising to everyone, none of this is your fault at all, so _please_stop saying sorry." Gabriella nodded slightly, before nuzzling her nose against Troy's chest and finally finding sleep…a sleep which allowed her to forget exactly how drastically her life had changed in just one day.

**TGTGTGTG**

**I know it's short, but it's an update, so deal with it…if you don't like them short, tell me and I will make them longer, it'll just take longer to update. **

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	6. Second Home

**I have no idea what's going to happen in this chapter, other than Carlos will be coming home, as for the rest, we'll just have to wait and see…enjoy!**

Second Home

He'd been worried about waking her up when he was getting up, but when his alarm went off at six, she wasn't even in the bed anymore. He'd wanted to go and search for her, but he knew his Mum and Dad were already up and about and that they'd look after her if they needed to, but he needed to get ready for school _then_he'd be able to check on her. So now, he was making his way downstairs, after showering and getting dressed, to have some breakfast and cuddle with his brunette beauty.

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs he found Gabriella in the lounge, she was sat on the couch, watching Alfie and Alex as they sat on the floor, dressed and ready for their day, playing with their toy cars. He made his way over to her and bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead, earning him her gaze.

"You weren't there when I woke up," He spoke softly as he knelt down in front of her, she simply shrugged in response. "I'm just gonna go and speak to Mum and Dad, see what's going on and when and then I'll be back, okay?" Gabriella nodded and let Troy place one more kiss on her forehead before he headed on through to the kitchen.

"Morning all," He greeted everyone. Lucille was at the cooker, keeping her eye on the items in a frying pan and she turned to smile at Troy as he stood in the door, the cooker being in amongst the cupboards that were just inside the right hand side of the door. Opposite him was the window, under which was the sink, surrounded by more cupboards and worktop and across the kitchen opposite the cooker was the table were meals were ate in this household. If you stepped through the doorway and turned left you'd see the back door and a few more cupboards and worktops, these housed many things, but the most obvious were the microwave and toaster.

"Morning honey, did you speak to Gabi on your way through?"

"Yep," Troy answered as he walked over to the table and took a seat next to Poppy giving her a hug once he was settled. "I told her I was gonna come and check with you guys to see what's happening today and when and then I'd go back and sit with her for a bit."

"To be honest honey, we don't really know what is happening today, Carlos' flight gets in at four, so your Dad is gonna meet him at the airport and bring him back here so he can give him the low down on a few things as well, other than that we have no idea what's happening today. Josh doesn't want to go to school, which is fair enough, so he's going to stay here with Gabi and I today, I've already phoned his school to explain, we told him he could go back to bed, but you're hungry aren't you Josh?"

"I'm a growing boy Lucille, I need all the nutrients I can get," Troy smiled to himself and gave Josh a high five, remembering that's what he'd told him to say last weekend.

"You, young man, have been listening to Troy too much," Lucille said pointedly, as she placed Josh's cooked breakfast in front of him.

"Alright everyone, I'm off," Jack announced, getting up and kissing Lucille goodbye and saying goodbye to people as he passed them on the way out.

"So Troy, Josh is staying here with Gabi and I, but Poppy would like to go to school, so I phoned her school and explained everything to them and they're happy for her to go in, but she wants you to take her and you need to take Alfie and Alex to nursery afterwards, it's better that they go, it'll be less confusing for them."

"I'll happily take them all Mum, but that's gonna make me late for homeroom and I don't have the energy to be dealing with the wrath of Darbus today."

"Its fine honey, I've already spoken to the school. When you get there you're gonna go straight to Lorna's office because Gabriella wants you to tell the others what has happened. I asked her what she wanted to do about them knowing and she asked if you'd be able to tell them, I spoke to Lorna and she's going to get the others out of homeroom, take them to her office and be there for you when you tell them, but you don't have to do this Troy, Gabriella only wants you to do it if you _want_ to."

"No Mum I'll do it, if Gabi wants the others to know and wants me to tell them, then I'll do it." Lucille smiled at her son, before asking Poppy to get her stuff together for school and clean her teeth, while she started on the washing up.

"Josh now that you're finished can you go and keep an eye on the twins and send Gabi through her please?" Josh nodded and drunk the last bit of his orange juice before heading through to the lounge.

Moments after Josh had left the kitchen, Gabriella arrived in the doorway. She was still dressed in her pyjamas and she looked pale, she just didn't look like Gabriella.

"Josh said you wanted me," Her voice was a testament to how bad she felt, it was hoarse and incredibly quiet.

"Come and eat," Troy said, as he picked up some bits of toast and started to butter them, he didn't like eating cooked breakfasts when he had to go to school.

"I can't Troy, I feel too horrible."

"I know you do, but just come and eat a few bites of toast, just enough to make me feel happy, please?" Reluctantly, Gabriella gave in and walked over to Troy, taking his offered hand and allowing him to pull her down into his lap, so that she was sitting sideways and was able to rest her head against his shoulder.

They sat in silence, Troy eating his breakfast and Gabriella simply enjoying being close to him. He would offer her his toast after every other bite and she would take a bit, but after eating about half a bit of toast she buried her face against his shoulder, indicating she didn't want anymore and Troy wasn't about to push her. When he finished his last bite of toast, Troy took a few minutes to simple wrap both arms around Gabriella and hold her tight, letting her know he was there, giving her the much needed support she craved.

**TGTGTGTG**

Alfie and Alex had gone into nursery with no trouble at all, after all things weren't all that different to them, they were too young too understand. Poppy had been a different story, Troy had taken her to school after the twins because it was easier for him to then get to school and so everyone else had gone in when they arrived. He walked her into the school's reception area and waited with her while a classroom assistant came to meet her, but then she'd gotten upset. She'd wanted Troy to stay and had clamped herself to his leg, stopping him from leaving. Troy had offered to take her home, let her be with Gabi, but she wanted to stay at school and eventually, after Miss Smith, the classroom assistant, promised she'd stay with her all day, Poppy hugged Troy goodbye and headed off to her class room, hand in hand with Miss Smith. Troy had phoned Lucille before heading off to East High; she needed to know that Poppy had gotten upset in case the school contacted her about picking the young girl up.

Now though, he was making his way towards Lorna's office working out how to tell his and Gabriella's closest friends that her Mum had died from an illness her children didn't even know she was suffering from. He figured, as he arrived at Lorna's office, he was purely going to tell them the truth, the complete and utter truth.

As he opened the door and everyone turned their head to look at him, he wanted to back out, but he couldn't, he was doing this _for_Gabriella, he'd do _anything_for Gabriella.

Chad, Taylor, Ryan, Kelsi, Zeke and Sharpay could all tell there was something serious going on, only by the look on their captain's face, it was a lot serious than they'd first thought. They watched as Troy took Lorna's seat at her desk and ran a hand through his hair before looking them all in the eye.

"I don't know what Lorna has already told you all, but I'm just going to tell you the straight truth because this isn't exactly easy for me. You all know that Carlos and Maria have been in New York this week, well yesterday Maria died. But she died from cancer and she _knew_she had the cancer, _both_ she and Carlos knew, but for some reason they kept it from Gabi and the others. So not only are they trying to deal with the fact that they're never gonna see their Mum again, but Gabi and Josh are trying to understand why their parents kept something like cancer from them, for who knows how long."

"Wait a minute," Chad was the first to speak after silence filled the room. "You're telling me that Carlos and Maria _knew_ she had cancer, but they kept it from their children, I mean okay, maybe Poppy and the twins wouldn't understand, but Gabi and Josh would, _surely_they had the right to know."

Troy shrugged. "That's what I said and Gabi feels that way as well, but she's torn. Her Mum has just died and yet she feels so angry at her and her Dad for keeping the cancer from them. Her and Josh are at home with Mum today, I don't think Josh really knows how to feel and Gabi's kinda just shrunk back into herself and even _I__'__m_finding it hard to get through to her."

"How did Maria die Troy?" Taylor was the one to voice the question in everyone's mind.

"Erm," Troy took a minute to think before explaining things further. "Carlos and Maria _were_ in New York on business, like they'd told Gabi, but Maria's health took a turn for the worse and she passed out, when they admitted her to hospital her body was struggling to cope and so they put her under sedation, but her heart couldn't cope with the strain and it stopped beating, they tried their best to revive her but there was no hope. I don't know what the precise medical cause of death was, but basically it seems like the cancer was taking its toll on her body and all the work she was doing just pushed her body to the end."

"She worked herself to death didn't she? She should've been taking it easy." Taylor seemed to be the only one able to ask the question they all had running through their minds.

"Pretty much," Troy answered as he relaxed back into Lorna's chair and leaned his head back to close his eyes as she spoke.

"Gabi specifically asked for Troy to tell you all today guys and it's taken a lot for him to do that, but as hard as it seems there isn't a lot we can do for Gabriella right now, we just need to be there for her and support her in the best way we all can. I'll be here for her at school and I know that Mr and Mrs Bolton will always be there for her as well. Her emotions are gonna be all over the place and I know that you will probably find that harder to deal with boys than the girls will, but all I'm saying is that over the weekend, maybe on Sunday you can all go and see Gabi, even if it's just for a few minutes, just to let her know that you're all here for her because it's at times like these that we start doubting things like that, we try to get through things on our own and we can't, we need each other." The bell rang then, disrupting the silence that had filled the room. "Just remember guys, as much as I'm here for Gabi I'm here for you guys too, you all knew Maria as well, this is a shock to you all, you hearing me Troy?" The blue eyed boy nodded and stood from the comfy office chair and allowed Taylor to give him a hug as they walked, she was the 'Mum' of their group and today Troy couldn't have been more happy about that.

**TGTGTGTG**

She wasn't sure she could do this; she wanted so much to just go down there and shout at him, tell him that she was so angry with them both, but she didn't have the heart to do that, not now. He was just as upset and heart broken as she was, maybe even more so, he'd lost his wife, his soul mate. Gabriella couldn't even think about that, losing Troy really would break her.

She could hear him greeting her siblings, she could hear them crying, but she didn't want to cry, not anymore, she cried when she was told, now she had to be strong, for them, for him.

They were all gathered at the bottom of the stairs, Alfie and Alex were in his arms and Poppy and Josh were hugging him tightly as well. As she reached the bottom step, he saw her and immediately beckoned her over with a nod of his head. She picked Poppy up and wrapped her other arm round Josh, who now had Alex in his arms so that Carlos could wrap an arm around his daughters.

She was the only one who wasn't crying, she wanted to, but she couldn't. She was upset about the death of her mother, of course she was, but she also felt angry. Her parents had let her and her siblings down so much recently; she couldn't help but feel angry. But she couldn't show that, she wasn't sure what she should be showing, so she just joined in with the family hug for the benefit of her brothers and sister, everything was for their benefit from now on.

**TGTGTGTG**

Carlos wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to the house he brought with Maria, the house that held magnificent memories of their lives together. He wanted to take his children home, let them be in familiar surroundings and simply remember the woman that was their mother and his wife.

Gabriella didn't want to go home. Going home to a house full of memories would give her mixed feelings, feelings she wasn't sure she could keep in. She understood why her Dad wanted to go home after his long flight and that he wanted the others to have their own things around them, but she wasn't sure she could cope.

Carlos wanted to go home to the memories that were there, so that he was able to remember the good times. If Gabriella went home she was frightened that the memories would get too much for her and she'd break. If she broke then the upset _and_ anger would come flooding out and she couldn't let that happen. She wanted so much to let Carlos know how angry she was, but she couldn't, not yet, it wasn't fair and so to save that happening she wanted to stay with the Bolton's, just for a while, just while she got to grip with her emotions.

Her Dad was in the kitchen with Jack and Lucille and so while Troy kept an eye on the others she headed through to get his permission.

"Hey sweetie," It was Lucille who noticed her in the doorway and so now that the room was quiet Gabriella took the moment to speak.

"Erm Dad? Would it be okay if I stayed here for a while longer? I know you want to go home 'cause you feel closer to Mum and you have good memories there, but I don't think I can cope with the memories and I don't want to get upset in front of the others again." That was partly true; she really didn't want to cry in front of the others, she just didn't want them to see her getting angry either.

"Lucy said it would be okay, please Dad, I just need some time to get control of my emotions, I just want to be with Troy right now." Carlos nodded as he finished his cup of coffee.

"Its okay honey, I understand and you can stay as long as Jack and Lucille are sure about you being here."

"Its fine Carlos, it's not like I haven't got the room for her and knowing her she'll stay with Troy anyway, besides I need the female company now that Anna isn't here anymore." Lucille had been the one to tell Gabriella that she could stay if she wanted to. They'd had a good old cuddle after everyone had left and Josh had gone to bed and Lucille had told Gabriella that if she needed and wanted to stay here with Troy, she was more than welcome to.

"Alright then, if you're staying here I guess we'll be off, if that's okay with you Jack?" Nodding Jack got up and went to find his car keys; Carlos' car was at the Montez's, so Jack was driving them home.

Gabriella said goodbye to her siblings and father and then stood in Troy's arms with Lucille on the front porch to wave them off. Troy planted soft kisses in her hair as they stood there and held her tightly against him as they made their way back inside.

"I'm going to go and tidy up in the kitchen and sort out some laundry, Jack's bringing some pizza's and such home with him so you can head upstairs and relax for a bit, I'll call you when he's back." Troy nodded in understanding and silently led Gabriella upstairs to his room.

**TGTGTGTG**

He was happy she was asleep; he knew she'd had a rough night last night. He changed into some sweats so he could cuddle down in bed with her and then he'd held her in his arms as she'd drifted off to sleep. He'd stayed with her for a little while, not wanting to disturb her, but then he'd slowly slid her out of his arms and made his way over to his desk to get through his homework. He'd had an idea that Gabriella would be staying with him longer and so wanted to spend as much time with her as possible without homework being involved, so he'd used his free period to get through as much of it as he could and now he only had a little bit more to do.

He'd juts printed off his English assignment and was putting everything in its correct folder when Gabriella started to move about on the bed.

"Troy? Troy, where are you?"

"I'm here pretty girl, its okay," Troy stopped what he was doing and went back over to the bed, lying on his side so that he was face to face with Gabriella.

"You weren't here, I thought you'd left me, I thought you didn't want me here."

"Sweetheart I would never leave you, I couldn't, you mean to much to me and of course I want you here, this is like your second home Brie, you know you're always welcome here." Troy ran his hand through Gabriella's hair then let it rest gently on her hip.

"I know it is and I'm so happy about that, I couldn't cope with being at home right now, I need to be here with you, you make me feel safe, you always know how to make me feel better."

"Well I try; I can guarantee I'll always get it right."

"It's good enough for me Troy, you just being here is enough for me."

"I'll always be here my sweet girl, always."

**TGTGTGTG**

**So, that turned out okay didn't it? Considering I didn't even know what was going into this chapter when I start writing it. **

**It's my nineteenth birthday on Tuesday, early presents in the shape of a review would be much appreciated, they were a bit low last chapter.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	7. Breaking Point

**Okay so, it's taken me a lot of effort just to open this document and write this author's note, let alone actually write the chapter, so I'm apologising now for it taking me a while to get it out. **

**I've got three things I want to happen in this chapter, one of them has to take place at the end, I'm just not sure which way round the other two should go, so this could be interesting. Also, things are going to jump about a bit, not massively, just by a couple of weeks or so, but that's the way it's gotta be to make the story flow. **

**So, I'm done informing you of things now, hopefully it all makes sense…let's see how it goes. **

Breaking Point

He knew it would be today. He'd known that she'd reach a breaking point and he knew that today would be that day. Let's face it, who wouldn't reach breaking point on the day of their mother's funeral.

It's the Friday of the week after Maria's death and today is her funeral. Troy had known that Gabriella wouldn't be able to hold it together today, she was trying to be strong for her siblings, but she didn't need to anymore, both Josh and Poppy were already crying and Alfie and Alex aren't here, it wouldn't be fair on anyone for them to be here, so Anna and Mike are taking care of them.

Since her break down after first being told about Maria's death, Gabriella hadn't once cried and so Troy knew that at some point she would reach her breaking point, he also knew that today would be that day.

He watched as people started to make their way into the church and yet she stayed sat on the bench she'd been sitting on since she arrived. He hadn't spoken to her yet, she'd been surrounded by family and so he'd stayed with his parents, but as they left him to make their way inside with everyone else, he knew this was the time he should approach her.

The tears were already welling in her eyes, as he crouched down in front of her and took her hands into his and he knew he had to tell her that it was more than okay to cry.

"I don't think I can be strong anymore Troy." Her voice was quiet and Troy had to strain to hear her.

"You don't have to be strong sweetheart, you've been so amazing keeping it together for so long, but you don't have to do that anymore, you're allowed to cry Brie, no one will think any less of you." Gabriella nodded, wiping at the tears in her eyes and shivering as a slight wind blew.

"Do you want my jacket?" Troy asked, as his thumbs ran back and forth over the top of her hands.

"No thanks, I think I'll be okay, we have to go inside now though don't we?"

"Yeah sweetie we do."

"Will you sit with me?" Gabriella asked, as she stood up and Troy wrapped his arms round her as they began to walk.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll sit with you, I'll hold you in my arms and be with you all day, I promise you Brie, you don't have to go through this alone."

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy's hand gently ran up and down Gabriella's back, as people started to leave the church to watch Maria being laid in her final resting place. Not long into proceedings Gabriella had doubled over and buried her head in Troy's thigh as her tears became too much for her to handle. Unsure of what else to do Troy had simply wrapped his arms around her the best he could and held her tightly against him giving her the silent comfort he knew she needed. Now though, he needed to get her outside, he knew if she wasn't there when Maria was laid to rest she'd never forgive herself, no matter how much it hurt.

"Brie sweetheart, we need to head outside now." Gabriella shook her head against his leg and Troy reached to move some stray hair away from her face. "Baby I know you're hurting right now, but I think you'll be hurting even more, if you don't see your Mum being laid to rest."

"Do your p-promise you w-won't leave me?"

"I promise I'll stay by your side the entire time." Troy's hand silently continued to run up and down Gabriella's back, as she slowly began to sit up and Troy was able to pull her into his arms and give her a proper hug. "I told you earlier Brie, you don't have to go through this alone, I won't let you, I'm here for you sweetheart, don't ever forget that." Gabriella nuzzled her face against Troy's chest and let him place soft loving kisses in her hair.

"I t-think I'm ready t-to go outside, b-but I don't t-think my legs w-will hold me."

"It's okay, I'll help you. I'll wrap you in my arms and help you walk and then when it's all over and you're ready to leave I'll carry you, sound good?"

"Perfect," Gabriella answered, as she wiped away her tears on the back of her hands and then slowly, but surely, allowed Troy to lead her outside.

**TGTGTGTG**

Alfie, Alex and Poppy were all tucked up in bed asleep, Josh was curled up on the sofa fighting off the sleep that wanted to come and Gabriella was curled up in Troy's arms, under her duvet as they watched some late night rubbish on the telly.

The wake had been a quiet affair; just a small group of family and friends gathered at the Montez's to remember the good times they'd shared with Maria. Now though, all the guests, apart from Troy had left, Carlos knew that Gabriella needed him close right now and so, along with Jack and Lucille, had allowed him to stay the night. Carlos was currently having a shower, after the long and stressful day and had left his two eldest children in Troy's capable hands.

"I think I'm gonna head up now," Josh said; as he managed to keep himself awake long enough to sit up.

"Alright bud; do you want me to help you up the stairs?" Josh shook his head at Troy as he managed to stand up without falling over. He quickly hugged both Gabriella and Troy before slowly making his way up to bed.

"And then there was two," Troy said, making Gabriella laugh slightly as she burrowed herself further under her duvet and into Troy's arms. "I think maybe we should head to bed too sweetheart, we can't sleep down here, it won't be very comfortable."

"Can't we stay down here a little while longer? I'm not tired enough to go to bed yet." Troy sighed and pulled the duvet tighter around them.

"Okay, we can stay up for a little while longer, but not too long, you need to get some sleep, I know it hasn't been coming easily to you this last week." Gabriella nodded gratefully and cuddled herself even closer to Troy.

It wasn't rocket science for those who knew Gabriella to tell she hadn't been sleeping very well this past week. Her usually glowing skin was pale in appearance and her eyes were dull and lifeless. In the afternoons after school, Troy had taken Gabriella back to his, led her up to his room, coaxed her into lying down and had held her in his arms as she slept. It wasn't for long, she'd always wake up after an hour and a half at the most, but Troy knew him being there, holding her had made a difference and so he was hoping him being with her the whole night, would help her sleep through 'til morning.

**TGTGTGTG**

By Tuesday evening Gabriella had had enough, she was having trouble eating so she felt weak and she'd only had one good night's sleep and that was only because she was in Troy's arms. All in all, Gabriella had reached her breaking point.

She returned home from school to find that she needed to go and pick up the twins and then was in charge for the rest of the afternoon/evening until Carlos arrived home from work at eight o'clock. Why her Dad was at work when he was supposed to be on compassionate leave, she had no idea, but still Gabriella looked after her siblings and put the younger three to bed before Carlos arrived home at nine o'clock instead of eight.

Now though, after helping Josh with his homework, which had him angry and in tears, Gabriella had had enough and had decided it was time her father knew that too.

She found him downstairs, in his office, going over some paper work he'd brought home from work. She knocked on the door and then walked in, not really caring whether he wanted her in or not.

"Hey Dad, can I talk to you please?"

"Yeah 'course you can honey, what's up?" Gabriella walked over to lean against Carlos' desk and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"I don't think you're going to like what I've got to say, but I really need to say this; I've been keeping it inside for too long now."

"Okay, I'm all ears," Carlos put down his pen and turned his chair towards Gabriella, giving her his full attention.

"When you and Mum would go on business trips I was okay with it, I mean I didn't particularly _like_ being in charge, but I didn't mind it. But I didn't like it when you would suddenly just leave and only tell me by text. You have no idea how hard it was for me to cancel on Troy so much; you have no idea how often we argued because of it. It really upset me the last time you went, you _both__knew_ that I was sleeping over at Troy's, you'd given me _permission_to do so and yet you still went to New York anyway, I was so upset after school that day, the others all picked up on it. I thought that I'd seriously messed up with Troy this time, not only did I cancel our date but I also had to say no to spending the afternoon with Anna and Louisa because I had to come home and do my homework."

"You didn't mess things up though, you're still together."

"Only because Troy came round here and spent the entire weekend helping me look after them, just so that he could spend some time with me. He didn't have to, but he did because he loves me Dad, but you wouldn't know how serious we are because you don't know a lot of things." Gabriella was starting to get angry now and to be frank, she didn't care.

"Gabriella sweetheart, please calm down, I know how much Troy means to you, it's clear to see how much you love each other. As for us leaving suddenly and only telling you by text, I'm sorry, when we had to go on these trips, we had to go, there was no way round it."

"But did you both have to go? Couldn't one of you have stayed with us, it's your business for goodness sake, it's not like you were some bottom of the pile employees who had no choice about the matter."

"But that's exactly it Gabi, we're at the top of the employee pile, we have to go to these big executive meetings which tend to suddenly just happen."

"Okay right whatever, you _both__had_ to go, but couldn't you have phoned me instead of texting me?"

"Most of the time you were in school Gabi, we couldn't have phoned you."

"You could've left a voicemail or phoned Lucille even, told her what was going on, she and Jack would've been more than happy to keep an eye on us while you were gone, did you ever think of that Dad?"

"No Gabriella, I'm sorry we didn't."

"You should know that Jack and Lucille, your _best__friends,_ would've happily taken us in, but no you didn't know that, you don't know much about what's going on round here."

"Alright then, tell me Gabriella, what _has_been going on around here? What else don't I know?"

"How about the fact that Poppy said I was like their Little Mummy because I was acting more like a Mum and Dad then either of you were? Or how abut the fact that she gets bullied at school because her parents are never home and her big sister is the one looking after her? Or what about the fact that Josh hardly ever gets the help he's supposed to at school and almost every day he gets upset and angry because he can't read the homework he has to do, but yet he knows every last piece of information he needs to do it. Did you know any of that Dad? NO, you didn't because you and Mum were never here." Gabriella was shouting and crying now, she didn't like doing these things in front of Carlos, but right now, she couldn't care less.

"Gabriella, please calm down sweetheart."

"I don't want to calm down Dad, what I want is to know why you and Mum didn't think I could handle knowing she had cancer."

"Gabi, it's not that we didn't think you wouldn't be able to handle it…" Carlos trailed off as his phone began to ring. He checked the caller ID and seemed to debate answering it before rejecting the call. "Look Gabi, we didn't tell you because we didn't want you worrying."

"I'd of rather been worrying than not knowing Dad. I'd of rather been prepared over the fact that my Mum could be about to die, rather than it coming at me out of the blue." Carlos didn't have an answer for this and so the room was silent and while Gabriella tried to compose herself Carlos rejected yet another incoming call.

"You have no idea how hard it was to tell them Dad, that Mum was dead, especially after only knowing for a few hours myself, it was _so_ hard. My mother, _your__wife_ is dead, she's never ever coming back and you don't seem to care."

"That's just it, she's dead Gabriella, life has to go on."

"She hasn't even been dead for two weeks; don't you care about that fact? That your wife is dead, don't you care about how any of your children feel about it all?" Carlos' phone began to ring again and this time he picked it up, with the intention of answering it.

"You don't do you? You don't care, about us or Mum; you care more about work than your family…how could you Dad?"

"I'm sorry Gabriella, but I really need to take this call…" And with that Carlos answered his phone and Gabriella fled from the room, tears now flowing freely.

She ran up to her room and fell onto her bed; grabbing her phone from her bedside table and pressing speed dial one. She tried to compose herself as it rang, but when she heard his voice, she was a mess.

"_Brie? Gabi talk to me sweetheart, why are you crying?"_

"T-Troy…I…"

"_Do you want me to come over? I can be there in less then ten minutes." _

"N-no don't, you c-can't, just t-talk."

"_Gabi__sweetheart,__you__need__to__calm__down,__I__can__'__t__understand__you.__"_ Troy stopped talking and listened as Gabriella took some deep breaths. _"__Alright__sweetheart,__now__tell__me__what__you__want__me__to__do,__I__can__'__t__come__over,__but__you__want__me__to__talk?__"_

"Yeah…can you just talk to me? I had an argument with Dad, I don't want to talk about it, but can you just stay on the phone and talk with me to help me calm down?"

"_Of course I'll stay on the phone with you honey, but are you sure I can't come over?"_

"I want you to, but…I don't think Dad would be too please about it, he's taking a work call right now."

"_I thought he was on compassionate leave."  
><em>

"He is…that didn't seem to stop him today though, just please Troy, I just wanna talk with you."

"_Alright sweet girl, we'll talk…are you ready for bed yet?"_

"No, I only finished my homework a little while ago and then I went to talk to Dad; I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"_That's okay sweetheart, listen, how about we hang up, go and get ready for bed and then in about ten minutes I'll ring you back and we'll talk about whatever you want to talk about until you fall asleep and then tomorrow, when I first see you at school, I'll give you the big hug I really want to give you right now, sound good?"_

"Yeah, thank you Troy."

"_No problem angel…I love you Gabriella."_

"Love you too."

**TGTGTGTG**

Having Chad Danthorth as a friend was an advantage when you wanted to find people in a crowd, you just looked for the giant afro and you were away, that's exactly what Gabriella was doing as she made her way across the front courtyard of East High as she looked for her friends. Seeing Chad's hair to the left of the school's entrance, she made her way over there needing to be in Troy's arms more than ever.

Carlos had left the house before she was up this morning and so Gabriella had gotten the rest of her siblings ready for school, made sure Josh and Poppy were at their bus stops on time and had then taken Alfie and Alex to nursery before getting herself to school. She hadn't slept very well last night and hadn't eaten since yesterday lunch time, even then she only had a packet of crisps, all in all, Gabriella simply just wanted Troy. Luckily for her, he'd seen her approach and met her on her way towards them, taking her into his arms and hugging her tightly as she tried her best not to cry in front of their friends.

"I was starting to wonder where you were pretty girl." Troy pulled back from their hug and framed Gabriella's face with his hands, stroking his thumbs back and forth.

"Dad had already left the house when I got up, so I had to take care of everyone else and then take the twins to nursery before I could get here, luckily things ran pretty smoothly so we got things done on time."

"I really wish I could've come over last night Brie, you didn't sleep much again, did you?" Gabriella shook her head and buried herself into Troy's side as they walked over to join their friends.

"Hey Briella, you feeling okay? You don't look so great." Gabriella briefly left Troy's arms to give Sharpay a hug.

"I'm fine Shar, just tired is all." But that wasn't all, Gabriella felt like her body was going to give out on her at any minute, she felt like she was about to break, but she wasn't about to say anything, she needed to be strong.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella was usually a very sporty person, especially when it came to running laps, so when she began to slow and look sluggish Jack Bolton became concerned. He watched as Sharpay and Taylor slowed their pace to keep up with her and then began making his way towards them when Taylor looked his way with concern in her eyes. As he got closer to them he watched in horror as Gabriella's body slumped forward and she collapsed onto the grass.

"Girls," He called to get Taylor and Sharpay's attention as he picked up his pace towards them. "Roll her onto her side and face her away from the sun." Although they were in shock the girls did as Jack had asked and then settled on the floor next to Gabriella, doing their best to comfort their unconscious friend.

The boys had been playing basketball on the outside court, but had stopped as soon as they'd seen Gabriella collapse and had quickly made their way over there.

"Dad, what's happening?" Troy's concern was obvious and he was finding it hard to keep his emotions in check, he should've known something like this would happen, Gabriella's body had reached it's breaking point.

"I don't know son, but I'm going to go and phone for an ambulance, you sit down beside Gabi and talk to her, she can still hear you. The rest of you stand with your backs to the sun and keep Gabriella in the shade, I'll be back as quickly as I can." The wildcats did as they were told as Jack rounded up the rest of the class and quickly made his way inside.

Troy laid down on his front next to Gabriella and slowly began to run his hand through her hair, he was unbelievably scared, but he wasn't about to show it, Gabriella needed him and that's all that mattered. "It's gonna be okay pretty girl, everything's gonna be okay. Dad's gone to phone for help and I'm here, I promise I won't leave you, everything is gonna be okay."

Gabriella's body had been pushed to it's limits and reached it's breaking point…but nobody realised just how bad things really were.

**TGTGTGTG**

**I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to get out, I just hope the chapter length makes up for things. **

**I've been through some crap recently and the only good thing that's come out of it is that I've realised who my true friends are. It appears I've only got one _true_ friend left, one who really cares, but that's fine with me, if the others don't care so much anymore then it's there loss not mine, right? This friend isn't part of fanfiction but she knows how much it means to me, along with HSM and for that I'm truly thankful.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	8. It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

**I just want to quickly apologies for the fact that some of the italics in the last chapter went a bit funny and squished together; it wasn't like that when I wrote it, so I have no idea why it then did that when it was posted.**

**Anyway, on with the chapter…**

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

Only a handful of people had seen Troy Bolton cry because they were the only people he'd let see him cry, but today he didn't care who saw him cry because his girlfriend was laying in a hospital room unconscious and no one would tell him what was going on.

The paramedics had said that she was seriously dehydrated and they desperately needed to find a vein as a means of getting fluids into Gabriella, but her body was so shut down that they were having trouble doing so. Fortunately, they persevered and managed to find a vein in order to start re-hydrating Gabriella's weakened body. Troy had travelled in the ambulance with Gabriella, but had been told to stay in the waiting room once they arrived and although he'd now been joined by Jack, he was still waiting and getting continuously worked up.

"Son you need to calm down, getting all worked up isn't going to help Gabi at all and you know it." Troy did know this and so took some deep breaths in order to calm himself down, while Jack answered an in coming call.

"Who was it?" Troy asked, as he looked up at Jack with his red rimmed eyes and allowed Jack to settle an arm around his shoulders once he'd sat back down.

"It was your Mum, she just managed to get hold of Carlos and he's in London, he said to contact him once we know more but she said he didn't sound in too much of a hurry to come back. Did you know he was going to London? Did _Gabi_know he was going to London?"

Troy shrugged. "She phoned me last night in a right state, I wanted to go round there but she said she'd just had an argument with Carlos and that he was taking a work call so he wouldn't be to please about it. She just wanted me to talk to her, so we talked until she was tired and then I spoke to her until she fell asleep. She didn't mention Carlos going anywhere, just that when she got up this morning he wasn't home and that she had to take care of the others and get them all where they needed to be on time."

"Do you know what their argument was about?"

"No, not really, but I think Gabi must've finally spoken to Carlos about…everything really. She told me she couldn't hold it in any longer and I know she was planning to talk to him and Maria about things when they cam home from New York."

"Alright well, we'll deal with things as they happen, but our main priority here is Gabi, so I'm gonna go and see if I can find out anything new, other than 'someone will be out to speak to you soon' and you head into the bathrooms and wash your face, okay?" Troy nodded and the pair shared a hug before heading their separate ways.

**TGTGTGTG**

Ten minutes later and the father and son duo were sat in the emergency department's family room waiting for a doctor to come and speak to them. The nurse Jack spoke to had been very kind and had taken them to the relatives' room telling them a doctor _would_be with them soon.

Soon seemed to be now because the door opened to reveal a male doctor, in his mid-twenties, with dark hair and wearing blue scrubs. "I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long guys, but I needed to stabilize Gabriella's condition before I came and spoke to you both. I'm Dr Mark Green and I'm the leading doctor looking after Gabriella today, now the paramedics told me that you young man are Gabriella's boyfriend?" Troy nodded and shook Mark's offered hand.

"Yeah that's right, I'm Troy and this is my Dad Jack."

"I'm the sports coach at their school," Jack said as he and Mark shook hands.

"Alright, so from the paramedics said you told them Troy, Gabriella lost her Mum recently, is that right?" Mark asked, as the three men took a seat on the padded chairs in the room.

"Yeah, she passed away from complications to do with cancer almost two weeks ago." Jack answered knowing Troy wouldn't want to repeat things he'd already said.

"And she's been struggling at home? Looking after her younger siblings and you said she argued with her Dad last night Troy?"

"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what about, but I think I know…and her Dad has suddenly gone to London on business this morning and when my Mum spoke to him she said he didn't seem in too much of a hurry to come back, so we're the only ones here for Gabi right now. Is she going to be okay?"

"She will be Troy, but it's going to be a long road. Gabriella is severely dehydrated and under nourished, meaning she hasn't been eating or drinking enough recently, probably because of all the pressure she's feeling from her current circumstances. We've got her on a drip to help with the dehydration and once she wakes up and is more alert we'll make sure we get some decent food into her. Now I don't want you blaming yourselves for this, especially you Troy, it's quite probable that she's been hiding this from you and so although she would've seemed to be eating in front of you, she would purposefully only eat enough to satisfy you and then maybe at times when she's busy looking after her siblings, not eat anything at all. It's also possible that she just didn't feel like eating or felt ill at one point and from then on food just didn't seem like a good idea. A big possibility in situations like this is that Gabriella's been through so much upset and stress which has made her feel weak, that she felt like eating would only make her feel worse and therefore she hasn't eaten. Whatever her reasons you can't blame yourselves for this, it isn't anyone's fault, we just have to focus on getting Gabriella better and eating and drinking properly again."

"Can I see her now?"

"Of course you can, but Troy you need to be prepared before walking in there. We put Gabriella under sedation, so although she's breathing by herself, there's no machines or anything, she isn't awake so she won't be able to communicate with you, but she can hear you. Talk to her, tell her you're here, tell her that we're going to get her back on her feet and feeling more like herself again. There aren't too many machines, but Gabriella is attached to a fair few wires, so by all means hold her hand and such, but just be cautious of the wires as well." Troy nodded his understanding and stood at the same time as Jack and Mark. "We'll be keeping her down here for a little while longer, but as soon as a bed is available we'll be sending her upstairs. She'll be getting a private room because I've been told she has a lot of potential visitors and quite frankly I think she'd appreciate the privacy."

"She will doctor, thank you."

"It's my pleasure Troy."

**TGTGTGTG**

She looked so weak and small and helpless laying there, with all those wires attached to her, even her hair looked frazzled and tired. She had a small clear tube up the bottom of each nostril, the rest of the tubes were hooked over her ears and then attached to an oxygen cylinder under the bed. Troy had questioned why she needed this if she was breathing by herself, but Mark had assured him it was purely there to _assist_ Gabriella in her breathing and that it wasn't even on that highly anyway.

Gabriella had now been moved up to her room on the ward and still hadn't regained consciousness since passing out on the field. Mark had told him that if they hadn't of sedated her she would've probably come round by now, but because her body was so weak they took the decision to sedate her because it would give her body more of a chance to start recovering from the pressure of collapsing. Troy knew and understood all of this, but still hoped that Gabriella would come round, just so that he could tell her that everything was going to be okay and that she wasn't alone in this.

Jack had gone outside to phone Lucille so that she could phone Carlos and update him, not that he seemed to bothered. If it was him lying in the hospital bed, Troy knew his parents would get on the first plane home to be with him, but it wasn't him in that bed, it was Gabriella and apparently their parents weren't as similar as they used to be.

As Troy began to get lost in his thoughts the door opened and Mike walked in, decked out in his nurse's uniform. Mike had always wanted to be a nurse and despite the stereotypical view of nursing being a woman's job, he'd persevered through all the training and was now a nurse on the children's ward, which was where Gabriella would be for her stay in hospital as she was still only seventeen.

"Hey mate, how ya doin'?"

"I'll be better when she comes round," Troy answered honestly as Mike went about checking and recording Gabriella's vital signs.

"I think we all will, but remember she's still under sedation so even when she does come round it won't be for very long because the sedation will just pull her back to sleep again."

"I know, but even if she just comes round for a minute I'll be able to tell her that I'm here and that she's not alone."

"She knows you're here Troy, she _can_hear you, so talk to her, _tell_her you're here, _tell_ her she's not alone, we don't know how much of it she takes in, but she _can_hear you." And with that Mike left, leaving Troy once again alone with his thoughts.

Sitting in silence wasn't something Troy did often, usually only at school when he was made to, but the rest of the time he'd be talking to people or have music playing or the television on for some background noise, all in all, silence and Troy just didn't go well together. So, after mulling thing over for a few minutes, Troy decided that having a one way conversation with Gabriella, was better than sitting in silence and listening to the constant beep of her heart monitor.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and held Gabriella's right hand in both of his, sandwiching it between them, before opening his eyes and beginning to speak.

"Hey Brie…this feels weird, but they said that you can probably hear me, so I figured I'd break into your sleeping bubble for a bit. I really wish they hadn't sedated you Brie, I just want you to wake up so that I know you _can_ hear me, but I also know that you being under sedation is the best thing for you right now and you know I always want what's best for you. Mike came in a few minutes ago, I think he's going to be one of your nurses while you're here, he didn't really say, but it was good to see a friendly face for a bit. Dad's phoning Mum, so that she can phone your Dad and update him, he knows you're in hospital, but he's in London and seems in no hurry to come back…I'm so sorry Brie, I thought he'd be here for you all because of what happened with your Mum, but apparently he isn't and I'm so sorry for that. They say you haven't been eating or drinking properly, that's why you collapsed; your body reached its breaking point. They keep telling me not to blame myself, but how can I not Brie? I'm with you so much and I didn't even notice how much you were struggling, I know you'll tell me not to blame myself and I'm trying, really I am, it's just going to take some time. I keep telling everyone I want you to wake up so that I can tell you I'm here and that everything is going to be okay, but they said you can hear me and that I should tell you anyway…Everyone's really worried about you Brie, they all wanted to come to the hospital but there was no point in all of us being here and missing school, so Dad's gonna phone Chad so he can tell the others what's going on…I'm here for you Brie and I'm not leaving your side until you wake up and can tell me yourself, that you're going to be okay, even if it's just for a minute I'll be happy. Everything is going to be okay Brie, I promise you, we're gonna get you back to health and then we'll talk to your Dad with my parents as well and get you some help and then you and me are gonna have a good old chat and I'm gonna help you with everything because I don't ever want you to be in this situation ever again Brie…please baby Brie, get better and wake up…I love you." With that said Troy had nothing left to hide and so laid his head onto the bed, beside Gabriella and cried.

He let out all of his pent up emotions, all the things that had been running through his mind since Maria had passed away, all the things that made him angry and all the things that made him want to curl up in his bed with Gabriella and never come out.

He didn't look up when the door opened, he just assumed it would be Jack and so when a hand came to rest on his shoulder, he still didn't lift his head up.

"Troy? You okay mate?" It was Mike, not Jack and although Troy didn't want people to see him cry, this was Mike and there wasn't much that Mike hadn't seen, so taking a deep breath Troy lifted his head and looked up at Mike.

"I'm on a break, you wanna chat?"

"I told her I wouldn't leave her," Troy replied, as he let go of Gabriella's hands to wipe away his tears.

"She's not likely to wake up yet Troy and if she does I've asked Mia, another nurse, to page me straight away…"

"Okay," Troy was hesitant about leaving Gabriella, but he knew that Mike was right and so placed a quick kiss on Gabriella's forehead before allowing Mike to lead him down to the canteen.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jack Bolton was beyond angry.

Carlos was going to be in London for two weeks at least, he wasn't going to come back just because his daughter was in hospital; she was in safe hands so he might as well work. He hadn't even considered his other children until Lucille had mentioned them and even then she had to offer to look them because Carlos didn't know what else to do with them, he'd even mention Josh looking after them at home.

When Lucille had told him, Jack had wanted to fly to London and knock some sense into his friend, literally, but he knew he couldn't, if Carlos was going to act this way, then they would just get through this without him.

Walking back into the hospital, Jack's anger immediately dispersed when he saw his son-in-law comforting his clearly distraught son, in the back corner of the hospital canteen. Arriving next to the pair, Jack pulled up a chair on Troy's left side, while Mike occupied his right, and wrapped and arm round his son, letting him lean into his shoulder and cry as much as he wanted.

"Gabi's okay, isn't she?" Jack asked towards Mike, as Troy stayed cuddled against his side, like he used to when he was little and he couldn't join in with the games Anna and her friends were playing.

"She's fine Jack, Troy's spoken to her, which initially got him upset, but he was just telling me how upset he is about the way Carlos is acting."

"Ah, well you don't want to hear what Lucille just told me then."

"He's not coming back is he?" Troy asked, as he sat up and wiped away his tears, determined not to cry anymore.

"He's going to be in London for _at__least_ two weeks…"

"Dad, I know hate is a strong word, but I really _hate_ Carlos right now."

"I know son, I'm not exactly over the moon about his behaviour either, but if he's not going to come home and step up to the mark then we'll just get through the situation without him. When your Mum asked him what was going to happen with the others, she had to offer to take them in, Carlos didn't ask, she said he seemed to be considering asking Josh to look after them." Troy couldn't answer this, he was just _so_ angry, but instead of voicing some of his views he took some deep breaths, knowing that getting angry wasn't going to help Gabriella at all.

"I want to go back to Gabi," He said quietly, he just needed to be with her; it was as simple as that.

"Not yet Troy, have something to eat and drink first, Gabi's fine, she's still sleeping otherwise Mia would've paged me." Troy knew Mike was right; he was feeling kinda hungry.

"Here's the deal, we'll get something to eat and drink, sit down here and eat it and then you can go back up and be with Gabi and no one will make you move unless _absolutely_ necessary, alright?" Troy nodded and the three men headed over to the food counters, taking advantage of Mike's staff discount.

**TGTGTGTG**

Mike finished his shift at six o'clock, but he'd told Jack to go home and help out Lucille, while he took his place and sat with Troy and Gabriella. It was a little after nine when Anna had called him to tell him she and Louisa were here to pick him up, so when the door opened, about ten minutes later, and Anna walked in, it was fair to say Troy was a little shocked.

She'd taken Mike's seat on the opposite side of the bed from Troy and had told him that Mike had wanted to stay, but after a twelve hour shift he was too tired and so they had swapped, allowing him to go home and spend a little time with Louisa, before getting some sleep. Troy had told her she didn't need to be there, that he would be okay on his own, but Anna had said she was going to stay the night, no one knew when Gabriella was going to wake up and she didn't want Troy sitting in silence, mulling things over in his head.

It was now nearing midnight and the Bolton siblings had both been dozing on and off, each holding one of Gabriella's hands, so when she let out a slight groan and her fingers twitched, _ever__so_ slightly, they both became completely alert. She could just be moving in her sleep, meaning the sedatives were slowly starting to wear off, but Troy hoped his voice would help bring her round.

"Brie? Sweetheart it's me; can you open those beautiful eyes for me?"

**TGTGTGTG**

**Sorry for ending it there, but I felt the need to, so deal!**

**It seems my comment last chapter about friends, upset someone who reads this story and although I've tried to contact her to talk things through, she won't respond to me, giving me more reasons to say what I did. If she's reading this, I'd really like her to respond to me or contact me in some way. I didn't mean to make you angry or upset, but by ignoring me, you're making everything worse, _please_contact me.**

**Sorry guys, you can yell at me and tell me to shut up for that if you like, anyway, back to business:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	9. Because I Have You

**Thank you all so much for the reviews, we've hit the 100 mark and that really makes me :)**

Because I Have You

"_Brie? Sweetheart it's me; can you open those beautiful eyes for me?"_

Gabriella moaned in response and her eyelids twitched slightly, but that was enough for Troy, she could definitely hear him.

"Hey sweetheart, I need you to open your eyes for me, I know you feel tired, but you can do it sweetheart." Gabriella moaned again and poked her tongue out to lick her dry lips.

"Tr-Troy?"

"Yeah sweetheart, it's me and Anna's here too, can you open your eyes for us?" Gabriella seemed to nod slightly and then her eyelids started to twitch more and more and slowly, very slowly, they slithered open and Troy was able to look into the chocolate eyes, which enabled him to see into his girlfriend's soul.

"I'm gonna get the doctor," Anna murmured, as she got up and left the room, knowing Troy needed this moment with Gabriella.

"I'm so glad you're awake, I've been so worried about you," Troy said softly, as he leant down to place a kiss on Gabriella's forehead.

"I-I'm o-okay," Her voice was quiet and incredibly hoarse.

"You will be, but we'll discuss that more later, do you want some water?" Gabriella nodded and let her eyes slip shut as Troy picked up the glass of water and put a straw into it. "Here sweetness, have some sips of this," Troy held the straw to Gabriella's lips and let her take a few sips before placing the glass back on the side cabinet.

Gabriella opened her eyes again as she felt Troy sit on the bed beside her and take her hand in between his. She tried to lift her other hand to join their others, but stopped when she realised it was attached to a drip.

"Why?" Gabriella asked, as she lifted her left hand for Troy to see what she was asking about.

"You're really dehydrated Brie, that's why you collapsed." Gabriella's eyes slipped shut again, but she forced them back open.

"I'm sorry." Her eyes slipped shut again, but this time it was because she was trying to stop some threatening tears from falling.

"Hey now, none of this, you've got nothing to be sorry for, everything is going to be okay, I'm here and we're going to get you better."

"Lay with me?" Troy wasn't sure if this was allowed, but he didn't care. Anna seemed to be taking her time finding a doctor and so he helped Gabriella move over slightly and then joined her on the bed, wrapping her in his arms and letting her drift back off to sleep.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was a little after nine o'clock the next morning, when Mike arrived for his shift, that things became a lot more active in Gabriella's room. They all awoke when Mike came in to send Anna home to get some proper sleep, a taxi would pick her up in ten minutes and Louisa was with his parents and could be picked up when ever Anna was ready. Breakfast was brought in shortly after Anna left and although Troy wasn't entitled to any, Gabriella was and despite the fact it took her a while, she did manage to eat a round of toast and drink a cup of coffee with Troy, all of which she wouldn't have done at home. After breakfast Mike came in with a doctor and Troy knew things were about to get serious.

"Gabi, Troy this is Theo, he's a doctor here on the children's ward and he's gonna be your doctor while you're here. He's just gonna talk to you about why you collapsed and what's going to happen while you here."

"Why are you here then?" Gabriella's voice was quiet, but not as hoarse as it was when she first woke up.

"'Cause I'm nosey…no not really, I figured it would be easier for me to tell Lucille then either of you trying to remember it all, I _don__'__t_have to be here."

"No it's okay you can stay, thanks man," Troy knew that neither he or Gabriella would be able to relay all the information to Lucille, so having Mike there would be useful.

"Right then, now that that's sorted," Theo began. "Do you know why you collapsed Gabriella?"

"Troy said something about me being really dehydrated?"

"That's right, you were incredibly dehydrated and under nourished meaning you haven't been eating or drinking properly," Gabriella cuddled herself further against Troy, she didn't want to talk about the things that led to her being here.

"Gabi no one's going to judge you honey, none of this is your fault, we're all here to help you. Theo's job is to look after your physical health, help you get back up to full strength, he doesn't have to know what happened for you to be here, _but_ there will be someone else who'll come and talk to you and help you with your mental health. It's nothing to worry about, but we can't let you go home until we're happy that you're getting better physically _and_ mentally, but nothing will happen that you don't want to happen, it'll all be at a pace you're happy with, alright?" Gabriella nodded at Mike and turned her head to look back at him and Theo, but kept herself cuddled close to Troy.

"Okay, so while you're here we're going to get you eating and drinking properly again and make sure you feel better in yourself and that you're happy with everything, not just thinking that we kicked you out as soon as possible because _we_ were happy, this is all about you Gabriella, if you're not happy with something that's happening you have to tell us, okay?" Gabriella nodded and Theo continued. "Mike was right in saying you will have to talk about someone about why all of this happened and that someone, as he so nicely put it, will be Mia, the nurse in dark blue scrubs, with dark hair who runs round here like a mad woman most of the time. She's trained in counselling and has offered to be your counsellor because she thought it might be easier for you to talk to someone who you vaguely knew rather than a complete stranger."

"That would be easier, thank you," Gabriella answered, as a few tears slipped free.

"Alright, I'll pass that onto her if she stands still for longer than thirty seconds, one last thing before I leave you guys in peace. Your body has become increasingly weak Gabriella and because you haven't used you legs for a while, even though it was just since yesterday morning, if you tried to walk on them they probably wouldn't take your wait for too long. A physiotherapist will come in tomorrow, probably in the afternoon and they'll help get you standing and give you some exercise to strengthen your legs, it won't be easy but you're a strong girl, you'll get there. Any questions?"

"If I get bored of the view and I want a change of scenery, can Troy take me for a walk, in a wheel chair? Just along the corridors or to the canteen maybe?"

"I think I can allow that, you'll just have to ask a nurse at the station for a chair, alright?" Both Troy and Gabriella nodded and thanked Theo, as he and Mike got up and left them in peace.

"It's a lot to take in huh?" Troy asked, as Gabriella burrowed herself against him.

"Yeah, but I've got you, so I'll be okay."

**TGTGTGTG**

A few days later and Gabriella was in a right state.

Her stay in hospital so far had been…okay. She'd slowly been eating more each day, had had a few physio sessions and yesterday worked up the courage to ask Mia for a chat, it wasn't a deep meaningful chat, they decided that would be too much to handle at first, but they just talked and got to know each other, making things easier for Gabriella_and_ Mia when the time to talk really came.

Troy had gone back to school for the last couple of days, but today was Saturday and Troy's birthday, his eighteenth birthday, which was why Gabriella was getting so worked up and Mia and Theo had come rushing in, in response to her monitors going off.

"Gabi honey, you need to calm down, it's okay sweetheart," she could register that as Mia's voice, but wasn't sure who the other person on her left was and so started to swipe at them as angry, upset tears clouded her vision. "Gabi, sweetheart it's only Theo, he's not going to hurt you." Gabriella stopped swiping at Theo, but still moved closer to Mia, on her right, trusting her more than Theo right now. She felt an oxygen mask cover her nose and mouth and leaned to her right to lean against Mia and let the oxygen do its job, as she listened to the professionals talk.

"If you go I think we'll be okay," Mia told Theo. "She's calming down now and I think you being here is only scaring her more." Theo must've nodded in response because the next thing Gabi knew the door to her room had shut and she and Mia were alone.

"Alright sweetheart, it's just you and me in here now, you're okay," Mia's arms settled around Gabriella and held her close, giving her the comfort she craved, as she slowed the tears down and managed to calm her breathing. She tensed as Mia settled her back against her pillows, but calmed again as the nurse explained she simply wanted to change her oxygen mask so they could talk and so, Gabi let Mia swap the mask for the tubes and then let her take her hands as she sat facing her on the side of the bed.

"Alright honey, tell me what got you so upset all of a sudden."

"It's Troy's birthday today," Gabi answer as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand, making Mia get up to hand her a box of tissues.

"And why has that gotten you so worked up?"

"Because it's his eighteenth and I can't help him celebrate because I'm stuck in here and I haven't even got him a present and it's all my fault cause I wouldn't eat or drink or…" Mia moved forward to wrap her into another hug as Gabriella started to get herself worked up again.

"Honey you being here is not your fault, you know that, we've talked about that and we'll talk about it some more, but please don't get worked up over it again, you need to stay calm," Gabriella wrapped her arms round Mia and trapped her in the hug while she took some deep breaths and calmed herself down and then, when she was ready, she released Mia and they sat holding hands again.

"So, Troy will be in later won't he?" Mia asked, to which Gabriella simply shrugged. "Alright let me rephrase that, Troy _will_ be in later, I know he will, he's always here. So, I'll make you a deal, you need to lay down and rest for a while and let me borrow your phone to make some calls and when you wake up, we'll sort out these birthday celebrations, okay?" Gabriella nodded and handed Mia her phoned, before laying down under her blankets and getting some much needed rest.

**TGTGTGTG**

Standing shakily, Gabriella looked herself over in the full length mirror that was now in her room. She'd woken up to find her best friend buzzing about the room, preparing clothing, jewellery and hair accessories. Sharpay had greeted her as she carried on with the task at hand and Gabriella lay in bed watching her, taking the time to wake up more. Mia had come in ten minutes later and told Gabriella she'd help her have a shower and so while Sharpay finished buzzing about the room, Mia helped the still very weak Gabriella freshen up.

She came out from the shower room in her underwear, covered by a big fluffy dressing gown and Sharpay had sat her down and got to work on her hair and it was then that Mia explained exactly what was going on. It seemed that she _was_ going to help Troy celebrate his birthday because Mia had managed to pull a few strings and they were going to have a romantic meal for two in her hospital room and so Sharpay was here to help her look fabulous.

And Sharpay had done exactly that, she'd tamed Gabriella's usually curly hair into perfectly shiny ringlets and with Mia's helped had dressed her in a while top with a silver sequin design, teamed with some black skinny jeans and some dark silver pumps. Mike had then arrived with a wheelchair to take her down to the foyer to wait for Troy to arrive, but she was having some last minute doubts.

"Are you sure about this Shar, I mean I'm kinda skinny and pale and this top is really big and baggy and…can't I just put my pyjama's on and get back in bed?"

"Briella you look amazing, this top is supposed to be baggy, so you don't look skinny at all and yeah okay, you look pale, but you're ill babes and let's face it, you look a lot better than you did at the beginning of the week. So what do you say, go downstairs and meet your man?" Gabriella nodded and gave Sharpay a massive thank you hug, before turning to Mike and letting him help her into the wheelchair.

"Wait, how do you guys know that Troy is definitely gonna be here at half four? I'm not sitting down there for ages waiting for him."

"I text him using your phone Gabs, he'll be here in about five minutes, so go!" Gabriella didn't have time to argue with Sharpay about texting Troy pretending to be her because Mike was already wheeling her out of the room and down to the foyer where Troy would enter the hospital.

Mike parked her up just to the side of the doors and bid her a good time before heading over to the canteen to have his break. As she sat waiting, Gabriella wrung her hands together, nervously in her lap and hoped that Troy wouldn't be too upset and angry that she hadn't gotten him a present. The doors slid open and shut a couple of times before Gabriella looked up and locked eyes with Troy. He smiled as soon as he saw her and immediately made his way over.

"Hey beautiful, what are you doing down here?" Troy crouched down in front of Gabriella and took her wringing hands into his.

"Wishing you a happy birthday," Gabriella answered, but she said it so quietly that Troy was immediately worried.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

"I haven't got you a present Troy, I was going to go out and buy it today and then give it to you on our date tonight, but I couldn't because I've got myself stuck in this place." Tears were starting to pool in Gabriella's eyes, but Troy immediately wiped them away.

"Baby girl I understand that you haven't had time to get me a present, it's not your fault and I'm not upset or angry about it, Mum brought enough presents for me as it is, I might make you pay for the cinema tickets next time we go, but other than that, you have nothing to be getting worked up over."

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive, now let's get you back up to your room, so I can kiss you without people looking at us weird." Gabriella giggled at Troy and let him have a quick peck on the lips as he got up to push her back up to her room.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy played with Gabriella's fingers across the table as they finished eating the slices of birthday cake he'd brought with him. They'd arrived at her room to find no Sharpay or Mia, but streamers and balloons and when Troy had questioned what was happening, Gabriella had told him she was just as clueless as he was. Troy had helped her up onto her bed, where her table was placed across it with two places set and so Troy sat cross legged at the foot of the bed on one side of the table, while Gabriella sat under a blanket on the other side. Mia had arrived about ten minutes later and had wordlessly placed a bag of Chinese take away and two bottles of coke on the table, before leaving the room silently. The couple had figured it was probably better not to ask and so had tucked into the food and enjoyed a lovely evening together, using Troy's new digital camera to catch the memories. Now though, they'd finished all the food and Troy was getting incredibly restless.

"Can we _please_ cuddle now?" Giggling Gabriella nodded at Troy and watched as he wheeled the table out of the way before joining her at the top of the bed and wrapping her up in his arms.

"Have I mentioned how beautiful you look tonight?"

"Maybe…but it wouldn't hurt to hear it again."

"Well you do Brie, you look absolutely beautiful and I love you _so_much." Troy punctuated this point with a passion filled kiss, which Gabriella pulled back from yawning.

"I didn't realise I was that bad at kissing."

"I'm sorry Troy, I'm just really tired, I had a panic attack earlier," Gabriella admitted sheepishly, knowing Troy would find out sooner or later anyway.

"Oh sweetheart, why did you get so worked up?"

"I realised I didn't have a present for you and then I realised we couldn't go on our date and I just started panicking and the machines started going off and Mia and Theo had to come and put the oxygen mask on me to calm me down, I'm sorry Troy."

"It's not your fault sweetheart and you're okay now so that's all that matters, now where are your pyjamas?" Gabriella yawned again as she shook her head.

"I'm not sure, Shar tided up," Troy chuckled, as he started looking through various bags and draws to find Gabriella's nightwear.

Ten minutes and Gabriella was settled down in bed, watching as Troy tided up the bits and pieces they'd used that evening when there was a knock at the door and Mike popped his head in.

"I'm finally off guys, Lucille says have a good night and that you better be decent when I come in just after nine tomorrow morning." And with that said Mike left to go home and Troy took his phone out to thank Lucille, before slipping off his shoes and jeans and joining Gabriella in bed.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked a few minutes later, as they lay down and cuddled close together.

"Hello beautiful?" 

"Are you sure you had a good evening?"

"I'm positive beautiful lady and you know why?"

"No."

"It's because I have you and all I needed for today to be perfect was you."

**TGTGTGTG**

**I'm sorry it's taken so long to get out, but I've had serious block on this, so if the next chapter is late out as well I apologies now.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	10. Safe Haven

**I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who reviewed last chapter, for some reason I couldn't reply to them so I just wanted to say thank you, especially to _Hopelessromanticgurl_who came up with an idea I wasn't too sure about, but now that she suggested it, I'm going to go ahead with it and see where it takes me. **

**This chapter is called:**

Safe Haven

Mia held Gabriella in her arms as she cried more than she ever thought she could. They'd just had a big chat, the chat Gabriella had needed to have since she found out Maria had died. They'd talked about how she'd feel when Maria and Carlos suddenly went away, how much pressure she felt under while looking after her siblings, how she felt when she'd heard about Maria's death and cancer, why she'd stopped eating and drinking properly and how she felt about Carlos being in London when her and her siblings really needed him here.

The whole thing had been an emotional rollercoaster for Gabriella and the tears had pretty much been there from the start, but it was the topic of Carlos being in London that had upset her the most. She'd tried to understand why he didn't want to be here for her and to be with the others, rather than them staying with the Bolton's, but she just couldn't work it out, why would any father want to be in a different country when he children need him the most? She'd asked Mia this question and Mia had, had a hard time answering. Truthfully, she didn't like the fact that Carlos wasn't here or that he wasn't even checking in with the Bolton's to see how she was getting on, he just didn't seem to care and Mia herself found that hard to get a grasp on.

But, Gabriella admitted to Mia that she felt better after talking about everything and despite the fact that all she wanted to do was curl up and cry, she really did feel like a wait had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Listen sweetheart, why don't you lay down for a bit and watch some rubbish on telly and I'll give Troy a call and ask him to come and see you straight after school rather than waiting 'til after dinner."

"You can't, he has training after school today," Gabriella answered sniffling, as she cuddled down under her blankets.

"Well I'll give him a call anyway, it's lunch time now so I'll be able to explain things rather than leaving a message, if Jack will let him I'm sure he'll miss practise and come and see you Gabi," Gabriella shrugged and pull the covers up further as Mia pulled round the room's hospital television on it's moving arm.

"He's spending too much time up here as it is anyway, he's captain of the team so he should be there, he can't leave it all to Chad even if the others do understand and he spends most of his weekends up here when he should be with his friends or spending time with his niece." Mia simply gave Gabriella another quick hug before leaving the room, she knew Gabriella just needed to be by herself right now, she needed time to wind down.

Mia walked over to the nurse's station in the middle of the ward and leant against the station in front of where Mike was sat on the other side as she waited for him to finish on the phone.

"What's up?" Mike asked her as soon as he'd put the phone down.

"You've got Troy's phone number, right?"

"Yeah why? Is Gabi okay?"

"She's really upset over everything and I thought I'd give him a call and ask him to come here straight after school, instead of waiting 'til after dinner."

"He's got basketball practise after school, but I'd say Jack would let him come, he's been keeping him in practise at home to keep him in the same shape as the others."

"Yeah Gabi said he has practise, she also said that he's always here and should be able to spend time with his friends and niece, but we all know his priority right now is her."

"Phone him," Mike said, as he pulled out his phone and wrote down Troy's number. "Ask him if he can come and see what he says, I'm pretty sure Jack will let him and Gabi really needs him right now, he's always said that she feels safe in his arms and I think that's what she needs right now."

"Okay, well if it's alright with you I'll phone him while I take my break, that was some pretty tough talking Gabi and I just did."

"It's okay Mia, phone Troy and take half an hour to get something to eat and drink, I'll page you if anything major happens. What's Gabi doing now?"

"Watching telly, I'm hoping she'll fall asleep as well," Mia answered, as she reached over the station to pick up Troy's number, before heading through to the staff room for a much deserved break.

**TGTGTGTG**

With a cup of coffee in one hand, her phone and Troy's number in the other, Mia relaxed back into one of the soft chairs in the staff room on the children's ward. Taking a sip of her coffee, she closed her eyes and let the caffeine make its way into her system, she needed this boost, really needed it. She quickly dialled Troy's number and then put the piece of paper onto the coffee table in front of her and lifted the phone to her ear, listening to the rings and hoping that Troy would answer.

"_Hello?__"_ Troy sounded confused and that seemed justified, Mia considered, as she realised Troy wouldn't have her number in his phone.

"Hi Troy, its Mia, from the hospital."

"_Oh,__right__sorry,__hi__Mia.__"_ Troy seemed less confused as he realised who he was talking to. _"__Wait,__why__are__you__calling,__is__Gabi__okay?__"_

"Yes and no, we had our big chat today and she's pretty upset as you can imagine, so I told her I'd phone you and ask you to come here straight after school rather than waiting until after dinner…"

"_I__'__m__supposed__to__have__training__tonight__Mia__…"_ Mia heard muffled noises in the background and then Troy came back on the line. _"__Sorry__about__that__I__was__in__the__canteen,__I__'__m__making__my__way__to__Dad__'__s__office__now__it__'__s__quiet__in__there__and__he__'__s__in__the__staff__room__so__just__bare__with__me.__"_

"Will do," Mia replied, as she sipped on her coffee and curled her feet up under her as she listened to Troy make his way through the crowded hallways.

"_Right I'm here and I have practise tonight but I'm pretty sure that if I explained things to Dad he'd let me come and see Gabi."_

"That's what Mike said, I got your number from him by the way, and Gabi said you had training and that you spend too much time up here as it is anyway and that you should be spending more time with your friends or with your niece."

"_I spend as much time up there as I do because Gabi is my priority right now and everyone knows that, that's why the team is so forgiving of me missing practise so much and Anna and Louisa are always coming round, I'm not missing out on anything." _

"I know Troy and Gabi knows that as well, she was just upset and worked up after our chat, but Mike said you've told him that she feels safest in your arms and I think that's really what she needs right now honey."

"_When she's upset or feeling down or when it's her time of the month, she'll come to me and just wrap her arms round me and I've learnt now that, that's Gabi's way of telling me she needs me to hold her and take her somewhere quiet if I can. When we first got together I told her I wasn't the great person at giving hugs so when she kept wanting them I asked her why and she said she felt safe in my arms and from then on I've never denied her a hug, I guess my arms are like Gabi's safe haven." _

"I think she needs her safe haven today more than ever Troy, that's why I'm phoning you."

"_I know Mia and believe me, if I could skip school this afternoon and come and see her right now I would, but I can't do that, but I will talk to Dad and ask him if I can miss practise again, it's the best I can do."_

"I know it is honey and that's all I'm asking from you," Mia replied, as she took a loud slurp from her coffee.

"_What__are__you__doing?__"_ Troy asked, as he started going through Jack's desk draws.

"Drinking coffee, what are you doing?" Mia asked back, as she heard noise in the back ground. "I thought you were in your Dad's office now?"

"_I__am,__"_ Troy answered. _"__I__'__m__rearranging__the__things__in__his__stationary__holder,__he__has__it__all__sorted__out__perfectly__and__so__every__time__when__I__come__in__here__and__he__'__s__not__around__I__have__to__mess__it__up,__it__really__pisses__him__off.__" _

Mia chuckled. "How's that going to help you when you ask him if you can miss practise?"

"_It's fine, I do it all the time now, he expects it if I've been in his office alone."_

"Alright Troy, well I'm going to go and get some lunch, I'll see you at about half three?"

"_Yeah, I'll be there."_

**TGTGTGTG**

She hated her walking frame, it made her feel old, but her physio therapist, Eric, told her that if she wanted to start moving about by herself then she needed to use it, just for a little while, just while her legs regained their strength. She hadn't used it in front of Troy yet, only Eric, Mike and Mia had seen her use it, she felt self conscious in case she tripped over her feet or her legs wouldn't take her weight and she collapsed.

Just after lunch, Mia had popped in and said that Troy would be here at about half three and so Gabriella decided that because he was giving up his time to see her, she was going to show him how much she'd improved.

It was now twenty seven minutes past three and she was sat on the edge of her bed with her frame in front of her, waiting for the door to open and Troy to walk in. Her feet were placed firmly on the floor and her hands griped onto the side of the frame as she willed her legs not to betray her.

At exactly half past three the door opened and Troy walked in, his blue eyes twinkling in the sun light filtering in through the window. Before he could open his mouth to greet her, Gabriella had pulled herself onto her feet and was steadily making her way towards him. He watched as she kept looking at her feet to make sure they were going the way she wanted them to and then she was in front of him.

"Thank you for coming." Her voice was soft and quiet and Troy could tell she was about to cry, Mia was right, she did need him and he was glad Jack had let him come, even if he did clip him round the ear first for messing up his stationary.

"You know, or at least you _should_ know, that I will be here when ever you need me, you're my priority right now Brie, I love you so much and I don't want you to ever think that I'd rather be somewhere else when I'm here because there's no where else I'd rather be, okay?" Gabriella nodded silently and moved her frame to the side, before taking one final step closer to Troy enabling her to wrap her arms around his waist as she took some unsteady breaths as the tears began to fall. She was glad Mia had called him and that he'd actually come because she needed her safe haven and that would always be Troy.

"Come on beautiful, let's get you back into bed," Troy picked Gabriella up and took her back over to her bed. He sat on the edge of it, with her in his lap and kicked off his shoes, before swinging himself around and settling them comfortably against the bed. He pulled the blanket up over Gabriella and held her close, encouraging her to bury herself against him and lose herself in his arms, her safe haven.

**TGTGTGTG**

For a Saturday afternoon the children's ward was rather quiet, but Mia knew that was about to change because she'd received a call telling her that Gabriella was about to have four very special guests. Those very special guests were here now it seemed because Mia could hear them and so she walked round to the front of the nurse's station to greet them.

"Hey Mia," Troy was holding hands with a very wary looking little girl and another boy was holding hands with two very excitable toddlers.

"Hey Troy, who have you brought with you today?"

"This his Josh, he's thirteen, those two monsters are Alfie and Alex and they're two and this little cutie is Poppy, she's eight and is a little scared of being here."

"Hey guys…its okay to be a little scared Poppy, hospitals can be scary places but Troy will keep you safe. You can go straight in," Mia told Troy, as she told her attention back towards him. "She was curled up in bed last time I checked, but she did put some sweats on today so she's not doing too badly, just a little tired from physio." Troy nodded his understanding and instructed the Montez children to go and knock on Gabi's door, which could be seen from the nurse's station.

Josh knocked and then waited for a reply before opening the door and allowing Alfie and Alex to go running in, startling and surprising Gabi all in the same moment.

"Omigosh, what are you guys doing here?" Gabriella put down the book she was reading and moved to sit on the side of the bed, facing her siblings.

"We haven't seen you in nearly two weeks Gabs, we've never been separated for that long and when Troy phoned Mia to check that it was okay, she said you were in a good place to have visitors today, so here we are."

"Well don't just stand there you little monkeys, come give me a hug," Gabi held her arms out to Alex and Alfie and they were soon up on the bed with her, sharing a hug. "I can't believe you're here, I've missed you guys so much." Gabriella said, as she squeezed the twins close, before letting them go to explore the room before standing to give Josh a hug.

"You're not gonna fall are you?" He asked as they shared a tight hug.

"No I'm good, don't worry, where's Troy and Poppy?"

"I'm not sure, Poppy's a little scared of the hospital." Just as Josh said that Troy appeared in the doorway with Poppy in his arms.

"Poppy, my little sister, come give me a hug." Troy put Poppy down and she quickly made her way to Gabi, who scooped her up into her arms and squeezed her tight, silently reassuring her.

"I missed you," Poppy said quietly, as Gabriella sat back down on the bed with Poppy and moved so that she could lean back against the pillows and give Poppy a proper hug.

"I missed you too honey, have you been having a good time at Jack and Lucille's?"

"Yeah, Lucille makes cookies and Jack has been teaching me basketball, I beat Troy earlier."

"Wow, nice one Pops," Poppy giggled as Gabriella tickled her and wiggled off of the bed to go and look out of the big windows, in Gabriella's room, with the others." Gabriella watched as her siblings interacted and couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes.

"Hey now, none of that, this is supposed to be a happy moment."

"It is Troy, these aren't bad tears for once, they're good ones," Gabriella paused to wipe at her eyes as Troy sat on the bed next to her and wrapped her into a hug. "Thank you so much for bringing them, what did Jack and Lucille say about it?"

"They said it was fine as long as I phoned Mia first, they were going grocery shopping, or they probably would've come as well. How was physio this morning?"

"Tiring, but I walked without the frame today, Eric was supporting me, but it's another hurdle I've over come."

"That's fantastic babe, well done, I'm so proud of you," Troy placed kisses in Gabriella's hair and held her tightly as they watched her siblings happily interact.

"Gabwi?"

"Alfie, my little man, what's up?"

"Cookie?"

"Ah, you're hungry are you?" Alfie nodded cheekily and pointed back to his siblings. "Are you guys hungry as well?" The other three nodded and so Gabriella turned to Troy. "You got any money on you? 'Cause I don't have any here."

"Yeah I've got some, shall we go to the canteen guys," a happy cheer radiated throughout the room and so Troy stood up to take charge. "Alright, Alfie, Alex, you need to hold one of Josh's hands each and no letting go until I say so, okay?" The twins nodded and took hold of Josh's hands. "Poppy, I need to help Gabi walk, so I can't hold you hand, but you can press the lift buttons, okay?" Poppy nodded and went to stand just outside the door with the others. "Alright beautiful Brie, how do we do this?"

"Put your right arm around my waist and hold your left hand out palm up, so I can put my hand onto it and put pressure on it if I need to, if that's okay?"

"Stop being silly, of course it's okay, none of this is your fault sweetheart."

"I know, it just annoys me that I collapsed, but I'm finding it hard to walk."

"Your body was weak before you collapsed babe and then because you didn't use your legs for a while they became even weaker, but you're clearly doing quite well, so stop worrying so we can go feed your siblings." Gabriella leaned up to give Troy a kiss before they slowly made their way out of the room.

"Okay guys; let's get you fed…that way." Gabriella pointed down the corridor leading from the ward back to a main corridor and the group started making their down it, as they were unknowingly being watched by Mia and Theo.

"They're so strong," Mia said as she turned to Theo. "If I'd been through what they had and my Dad was in another country, seemingly not caring, I don't think I'd be able to cope." For legal reasons, because Gabriella wasn't yet eighteen, all of the medical staff involved in looking after her had to know where Carlos was and that he was willingly, not coming home, so that they knew to contact Jack and Lucille if an emergency arose.

"Troy's a big part of that though, Gabriella loves him, but the others also adore him, he might be her safe haven, but they all trust him just as much."

Theo was right, Troy would always be Gabriella's safe haven, but he would also be a trusted and safe place for the rest of the Montez children, although if you told him this he'd be sure to deny it, saying he cared and that it was as simple as that.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, some bits it like, some bits I don't, its just one of those things. **

**I changed the title of the chapter three times, so hopefully I've left it with the right one!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	11. Letters

**So, I need to say sorry again for the way the italics mushed together in the last chapter, like they did before. It was kinda tricky to read and so I say sorry and that next time I use italics I will make sure to space them out better. **

**I THINK that the next chapter will be the last and then I'll be taking a break from fanfiction to sort out what will be coming next from me and how I'm going to be going about it. **

Letters

He could sense her excitement before he was even in the hospital foyer, so by the time he reached her, Gabriella looked about ready to pop.

"I'm free," she told him happily, as she stood up and greeted him with a hug.

"Really? When?"

"Tomorrow, Mia said as long as nothing drastic happens over night I'll be able to leave after some final tests tomorrow."

"Brie, sweetheart, that's fantastic, I'm so happy for you," Troy squeezed Gabriella tightly, before pulling back slightly to see her biting her lip shyly. "What's up?"

"Mia said that they'll probably be able to discharge me in the early afternoon, but I'd really like you to come and get me and she said that they can wait until half three if you'll come and get me…"

"If you're happy to wait that long, then you know I'll come and get you and Dad has already cancelled practise tomorrow 'cause he has a meeting, that's why I'm running late today, he kept us there for longer to make up for it."

"Well as long as you're okay with it, then I'll tell Mia when we go back up…"

"What else?" Troy asked, knowing Gabriella wasn't quite telling him everything.

"Well…Mia and I had another chat before tea and I got kinda upset and so I didn't eat very much, but she said she'd let me off if you brought me something in the canteen when you got here…I'll pay you back when we get home tomorrow."

"Sweetheart you don't have to pay me back it's fine, come on," Troy kept one arm wrapped round Gabriella as he led her towards the canteen and the wide selection of food it had on offer.

"Yeah but, you keep buying me things and you brought the others their food when you all visited on Saturday as well, can't you at least let me pay you back for theirs?"

"Nope, it was my treat and it's staying that way Montez so shut up or I won't pick you up tomorrow," Gabriella poked Troy in the stomach and then momentarily left his side to pick herself some food, once again courtesy of Troy.

**TGTGTGTG**

As the clock struck three fifteen and the time for Gabriella to be discharged got closer, the less she wanted to leave. The hospital had been her home for the past two weeks, she felt safe here and the staff had helped her become her old self again…but what if she changed again when she left? What if everything just went back down hill when her Dad came back from London? There were too many 'what ifs' running through Gabriella's head and so she curled up on her bed, with her back to the door and cried.

There was a wet patch on the pillow by the time the door opened and Troy walked in, she didn't turn to greet him though, he'd soon walk round to the other side of the bed and see her tears.

"Hey Brie, you ready to go sweetheart?" This was the first stage, he'd talk to her and she wouldn't answer him. "Brie honey? You haven't fallen asleep have you?" This was stage two, he'd talk to her again and now that she hadn't answered him, he was walking round the bed to see her face…and now he'd seen her tears and was crouching down next to the bed to talk to her. "Gabi sweet girl, why are you crying? What's the matter honey? Do you feel okay?" Gabriella simply nodded to Troy's last question and reached up to wipe away her persistently falling tears. "Well if you feel okay, then what's the matter?" Troy asked, as he reached up and softly ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair.

"I'm scared."

"What are you scared of honey? Coming home?"

Gabriella nodded. "What if I can't cope and I stop eating and drinking properly again and I collapse again, only it's worse and it takes me longer to get better. What if I can't cope when Dad comes back from London and we just become even more distant than we are now? What if Dad just doesn't come back at all and I get stressed out 'cause I'll end up looking after the others again? What if I can't cope at school and I don't pass my exams and I can't go to Stanford? What if I break down and…and…and, I'm scared Troy." Gabriella's tears just came on thicker and faster and Troy was soon sitting next to her on the bed, pulling her onto his lap and letting her cry into the crook of his neck as he cradled her tightly against him.

"Listen beautiful," Troy pulled Gabriella away from his body and cupped her face in his hands, enabling him to look into her tear filled eyes. "If you ever feel like you can't cope or things are getting too much for you, then I want you to tell me. I don't care how you tell me, come talk to me, text me, write me a letter and leave it some where I'll find it, I don't mind, I just don't want you to feel like you can't cope ever again. When your Dad comes home, my parents will be talking to him way before you do and they'll be telling him things as they are, Mum's not gonna hold back anymore, she's gonna tell him things straight. And I'm sure he'll be coming back, he might not have come back when he found out you were in this place, but I'm sure he'll be coming back, Mum would send Dad to London to bring him back if he didn't. You won't ever again have to look after the others by yourself, so there's no way you'll get stressed out by that or anything else. And you _will_cope at school sweetie because school is your thing, studying is your thing and because of that you will most defiantly pass your exams and get into Stanford, don't you ever doubt that. But if you do find yourself struggling with a piece of work or something, tell me and I'll try and help you and if I can't help, which I probably won't be able to, I'll come with you to talk to the teacher so you get the help you need…you aren't alone in this honey. I'm not saying it's going to be easy for you to adjust back to things outside of hospital and I'm not saying you won't break down, but if you do I'll be there, whenever and wherever you need me, I'll be there, just say the word." Gabriella took some shaky breaths as she let Troy wipe away her falling tears.

"I'm sorry Troy, I should be happy I'm getting out of here."

"Gabi it's only natural to feel scared and worried about leaving here, you've gotten back to health here the past two weeks. But I promise you, I'm gonna be with you the whole time at home, I'll help you adjust back into home life and I reckon that once we're there and you see the others again, you'll feel better about everything…okay?" Gabriella nodded and took some deep breaths to calm her breathing and stop anymore tears from falling.

"I really don't deserve you," she told him softly, as he wiped away the tear tracks on her face.

Troy shrugged. "I don't really deserve you either, so that means we're equal…now is there anything else you want or need before we go?"

"Nope, but when we get home will you cuddled with me?"

"What kind of question is that Brie? You know I will."

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy was right, once they'd arrived at the Bolton's and she'd been greeted by her siblings, Gabriella had begun to feel better about things, but Troy had kept to his word and cuddled with Gabriella once things had settled down and everyone had disappeared off to do their own thing. Alfie and Alex had stayed in the lounge though and while Alex happily played with his toys and watched the telly, Alfie lingered nearer to Troy and Gabriella and, although he was playing, it was obvious his heart wasn't into it. Eventually, he got up and wandered out of the room, only to come back looking lost and frightened. Gabriella had immediately called him over and pulled him up onto her lap, letting him curl up in her there, as Troy moved his arms to encompass Alfie as well.

They were still curled up like that now, an hour and a half after Troy and Gabriella had arrived home, when Lucille come through from the kitchen with an envelope in her hand.

"This arrived yesterday Gabriella," she said handing her the long white envelope. "The post markings on it say it's from London."

Sensing something wasn't right, Alfie wiggled off of Gabriella's lap and ran to join the others in the dining room, while Gabriella simply sat and stared at the envelope.

"It's from my Dad, isn't it?"

"I'd say so sweetie yeah, are you okay with that? I can take it and read it if you don't want to."

"No, I want to read it…can I read it alone please?" Gabriella aimed this question at Troy, knowing he didn't want to leave her side much tonight.

"If that's what you want…I'll be in my room doing homework," Troy kissed Gabriella soundly on the lips and untangled himself from her before giving her another kiss and heading upstairs.

"I'll be in the dining room," Lucille said softly as she followed Troy out.

Deciding it was best just to get it over with, Gabriella ripped open the envelope and found a sheet of lined paper, filled with her Dad's writing, she knew this wasn't going to be easy.

_Dear Gabriella, _

_If you're reading this then you've opened the letter and for that I'm incredibly thankful. _

_First of all I want to apologise for the way your mother and I treated you before her death, it was inconsiderate of us and I now realise that we shouldn't have left you in charge while we went on work trips and that you had every right to know about her cancer. She had cervical cancer and although she started off having treatment, she didn't like the way it made he feel and so she went against medical advice and stopped receiving it, that's why she collapsed and her body gave up the fight. _

_I myself want to say sorry for the way you found out about her death and the fact that I made you tell your siblings, I should never have made you do that. I should've come home myself and told you all, there is no excuse for the way I acted. _

_There is also no excuse for the way I treated you after your mother's funeral, I went back to work far sooner than I should of and I am so very sorry for acting the way I did when you tried to speak to me that evening the other week. _

_I **did** come to London for business, but I am no longer here on business. I have taken some leave from work and have signed myself into a rehabilitation centre in the hopes that they can help me get over my grief and help me to realise how I have hurt you and your siblings and how I can start trying to make up for all the terrible things I have done. _

_My first apology to you Gabriella is not coming back to see you when I learnt you had been taken into hospital. I'm so very sorry for the way I have acted and I know that it will take time before you can forgive me for leaving you when you needed me the most._

_I am writing you this letter because my counsellors wanted me to write down my thoughts and feelings and I hope that you will do the same thing. I want to know your thoughts and feelings over all of this Gabriella, tell me everything, I don't care how bad it is or whether you swear or not, just tell me because if you don't tell me, I can't begin to make things up to you. _

_I hope with all my heart that you'll write me a letter in return, but I also understand that this will take you time and I don't want you to feel like there is any rush at all. _

_I thank you again for reading this letter and hope to hear from you soon._

_All my love_

_Dad_

The tears had been tumbling freely for a while now and Gabriella didn't try to stop them, her Dad had made contact with her, he was getting help, something he'd gone about by himself and she had no idea how to react. She had so many things whirling through her head and she knew that there was no way she'd be able to make any sense of it now and so she put her letter back in the envelope and headed upstairs, knowing that she needed Troy's view on this now more than ever.

She padded past the dining room, not wanting the others to see her and quickly ran up the stairs, knocking on Troy's bedroom door when she arrived; she wasn't sure what kind of reception she'd get, she had asked him to leave the room when she'd read the letter after all. She received a 'come in' in reply to her knock and so she hesitantly opened the door and made her way in, finding Troy changed into a t-shirt and basketball shorts, lounging on his bed watching TV, seemingly finished with his homework.

It took Troy once glance in Gabriella's direction to know that her letter from Carlos had been an emotional one and he was glad that she'd come to him, even if she did look slightly frightened of him.

"Come here beautiful," Troy held his arms out to Gabriella and she was soon in his arms, burying her head into the crook of his neck as they lay on his bed and she let out all of the emotions that had come to the forefront after reading her Dad's letter.

"Help me please?" Gabriella asked, as she wiped away her tears, but cuddled herself closer to Troy.

"You know I'll help you honey, but I need to know what was in the letter first, will you tell me?" Gabriella shook her head and handed the envelope to Troy. "Can I read it?" Gabriella nodded and handed Troy the letter and the room was filled with silence as Troy read Carlos' meaningful words. "Do you want to write back sweetheart?"

"Yeah…he's clearly getting help Troy, I've got to commend him for that and the fact that he wrote to me not knowing how I'd take it or even if I'd read it, I'm just not sure what to write."

"Well you don't have to write it now, take some time to think about it. You don't even have to write it all in one go, you can write things down as they come to you, there's no pressure sweetheart, it's all at your speed, you don't have to rush anything, okay?" Gabriella nodded and nuzzled her face into Troy's chest, not knowing what to say right now, but just needing to be in Troy's arms.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was Friday evening and Troy and Gabriella were walking hand in hand down the street, back towards the Bolton family home. Gabriella had been coming on leaps and bounds since her release from hospital and Troy knew that a large majority of her becoming herself again was due to her being with her siblings again, the bond that they held helping her grow stronger each day.

Now though they were walking home after posting Gabriella's responding letter to Carlos, something she had written in one big go on Wednesday evening, but had only now found the courage to post. She found it incredibly emotional to write, but had stayed strong and not had Troy in the room, this was something she had to do alone, but as soon as she was finished she went upstairs to find Troy and let him read the letter, while receiving the hug she so desperately needed.

Gabriella wasn't sure how to write her letter, should she write in reply to things Carlos had said? Or should she just be really angry and tell him the truth like he'd asked? Troy had told her to calm down and simply write what came to mind and what came from her heart and that's exactly what she did.

_Dear Dad, _

_I'm not really sure what to write, so I'm sorry if it's not what you were looking for. _

_I was released from hospital on Tuesday and I feel more like the old me every day. Troy has been amazing looking after me and helping with whatever I've needed help with, I'm really thankful I've got him, and Jack and Lucille for that matter, without them things would be so much worse right now. _

_The others don't know where you are, only Josh knows, there isn't much point in telling the others. Josh is angry at you for being in London, so maybe you could write a letter to him explaining what's going on and that you aren't on business there anymore. _

_I'll admit that I was angry at you and Mum when I found out about the cancer, I didn't want to be because she was dead, but I just couldn't help how I felt. I know you didn't tell us about the cancer because you wanted to protect us, but I still feel like Josh and I had the right to know, even if you didn't tell the others, I still think you should've told us. _

_I was angry at you for going back to work so quickly, that's why I came and spoke to you that evening, I hoped me telling you how I felt would knock you into reality, seems I was wrong. _

_I know you're grieving Dad, we all are, but I just want you to get better and get to a place where you feel comfortable to come home and be with us again because we miss you Dad, we really miss you. _

_I know this isn't the best letter in the world, but it's a start and I hope it helps you._

_Love you loads_

_Gabriella. _

**TGTGTGTG**

**It's kinda short, but you'll just have to deal with it.**

**I'm hoping the italics don't bunch together, like they have before, but if they do, and you can't understand what it's says, give me a shout and I'll send you the italics parts so you're able to read them.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	12. Promises

**Alright, so this is the second time I've written this author's note, mainly because I wrote the first one over a week ago when I started writing this chapter and to be honest it wasn't really very relevant anymore. **

**So, the story is now over and I will be taking a break from fanfiction so that I can get together what will be coming your way next, I hope you won't hate me for it, but it needs to happen for my ideas to build. **

**Anyway, here's the last chapter of Little Mummy.**

Promises

"Alright little brother, talk to us."

"Huh?"

"You've been quiet ever since you got here; even Lou has given up on trying to get you to play with her, _so_, talk to us." Anna and Mike took a seat on the sofa, on either side of Troy, and waited for him to open up.

"I want to give this to Gabi," he told them, as he took his East High class ring, off of his finger and held it between his thumb and forefinger on his right hand for his sister and brother-in-law to see.

"Dude, your class ring? That's a big thing to give a girl." Mike told Troy, as he helped Louisa put some clothes back on her dolly.

"I know, but she means the world to me man, she's the one and I wanna tell her that by giving her this," Troy replied, as he twirled his ring between his fingers.

"So, you're sitting here, with a face like a wet weekend because you can't decide how to give it to her?"

"How does she do that?" Troy asked Mike, confused at how Anna had guessed how he was feeling, just by how he was acting.

"I don't know, I'm scared to find out." Mike admitted, as he moved out of the firing line of the pillow his wife had just thrown at him.

"It's because I'm a Mum and Mum's know these things, but that's not important right now, what's important is working out when Troy is going to give Gabi his ring."

"When does Carlos get back again?"

"Friday."

"And Gabi's birthday is Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, Mum and Dad are gonna stay at hers for the night so we can have the house to ourselves."

"Dude, use protection, I don't think they want anymore grandchildren yet."

"_Dude_, it's not for that reason, it's so we can spend some time together without any interruptions, we haven't really been able to do that in a while, apart from when Gabi was in hospital and most of the time then someone would come in at some point or another."

"So, knowing you two, it'll just be movies on the couch with a bit of making out thrown in, why can't you just give it to her when there's a romantic part in the film."

"'Cause it's not just as simple as that, is it? I can't just go, here have my ring, I wanna be with you forever." Troy was getting angry now, he inevitably came here for advice, but Anna and Mike didn't seem to understand that.

"This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Anna asked, as she lifted Louisa up to sit on her lap with her dolly.

"Yeah, it does, that's why I came to you guys, I figured because you're younger you'd understand and be able to help me out, but maybe I should just go to Mum and Dad, they'll laugh, but they'll help me in the end."

"Now you're just being silly Troy, you know we'll help you, we feel honoured that you'd rather come to us, than go to Mum and Dad, so seriously talk to us, tell us what you've thought about so far, you must've thought about it a bit."

"Well, this is gonna sound silly, but I've brought her a chain to wear it on because I know it's too big to wear on any of her fingers 'cause if she's been playing with my fingers she's often pulled it off and tried it on and it doesn't even fit on her thumb, so I figured she could wear it on a chain and then it would be closer to her heart as well."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out to me mate," Mike's voice was more understanding now, now where near as teasing as before.

"Yeah but what am I supposed to say, there's so much I want to say, but I'm scared when the time comes I'll forget most of it."

"It's like when I proposed to your sister, you just need to speak from you heart, you'll probably forget something, but I bet that once she's accepted it, which she will, you'll both just sit there together, holding each other and talking about your feelings, I promise you that everything you want to say to her will be said at some point in the evening Troy."

"Aw, Daddy's being all sentimental Lou, go get him," Anna put Louisa back on the floor and she quickly toddled over to Mike, letting him pull her up onto his lap so she could 'get him' and he could tickle her.

"He's right Troy, just speak from the heart and it'll all be just fine."

**TGTGTGTG**

Walking back into his family home, Carlos was unsure of the reaction he would receive. He knew that Poppy and the twins would accept him as if nothing had happened, they didn't know he had been in rehab, despite that fact they'd sent him countless pictures along with the letters he and his eldest children had exchanged.

After his first letter to Gabriella and once he'd received a reply, Carlos sent a letter back to her, but also one to Josh as well, explaining everything to him in a way that he would understand, while also apologising for the way he had behaved since Maria's death. In return, Carlos received an understanding letter from Josh, one that told him his son simply missed the old days, the ones where he could tell his Dad everything, like how he'd recently just aced his Science, English and Maths tests because he had someone to read and write for him during the exams. Despite the fact that Josh seemed to have forgiven him, Carlos was still weary; he'd hurt his eldest son and daughter and he didn't expect them to accept him with open arms, he had to earn back their respect to receive a reception like that.

"Daddy!" Carlos knelt down to receive the impact of his three youngest children as they charged towards him. He kept a tight hold on them, angry with himself for not being there for them recently, even if they didn't realise it.

"Daddy, come see what we've done," Poppy pulled on Carlos' hand until he came through to the lounge where he was met with a massive banner reading 'Welcome home Daddy.' His eldest son and daughter were there along with Lucille and Troy and although Josh was smiling and seemed happy to see him, Gabriella seemed slightly apprehensive and he was yet again angry with himself because it was his fault she was feeling this way.

"Wow guys, this is amazing, did you make it yourselves?" Carlos gave Josh a tight hug in greeting, as they others shook their heads vigorously.

"It was Gabi's idea," Poppy answered. "She said we needed to have a welcome home party, Lucille even made brownies, but she said we can't eat them 'til you say so."

"Well, why don't you guys go through to the kitchen and plate them up while I speak to Gabi and Troy, okay?" Poppy nodded and followed Josh and Lucille as they carried the twins out of the room.

"You can tell me to sling my hook if you like, but I'd really like it if I could get a hug." Carlos watched as Troy gave Gabriella's hand a reassuring squeeze, before she left his side and slowly walked towards him.

"I could never tell you to sling your hook…I love you Dad, I'm so sorry for everything." Carlos shook his head as he gathered his silently crying daughter into his arms.

"You have nothing to be sorry for honey, nothing at all, I on the other hand do and I intend to make it all up to you and your siblings, starting with your birthday tomorrow. Now, I haven't been able to get you anything yet, but tomorrow, you, me and Troy, we'll go shopping and you can have whatever you want.""

"You don't have to do that Dad; it's not fair on the others."

"But it is sweetheart; you've been under the most pressure, what with school and looking after your siblings for so long, so I say it's entirely fair."

"Okay, but only because you suggested it and because you said Troy could come…did Jack tell you him and Lucille are spending the night here tomorrow?"

"Indeed he did sweetheart and I'm completely fine with it, I trust you guys, you deserve the time together, both of you. I want to thank you Troy, you've been taking care of my daughter when I've failed to and for that I'm incredibly thankful."

"She's my world sir, when she's not okay then neither am I, it's as simple as that."

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella woke up early the next morning, even before Alfie and Alex, and although she tried to get back to sleep, she just couldn't, so she pulled Troy's hoodie on over her pyjamas, made a trip to the bathroom and then made her way downstairs to fix herself some coffee. What she didn't expect to find when she arrived in the kitchen was her Dad sitting at the island, the coffee already made.

"Hey Dad," she offered as a greeting, not wanting to startle him.

"Hey sweetheart, happy birthday." Carlos spun round on his stool to give Gabriella a hug, as she passed him to get some coffee.

"Thanks, you're up early."

"Yeah I couldn't sleep; I've been finding it kinda hard without your Mum beside me. How come you're up so early then?" Gabriella shrugged as she sipped on her coffee and took a seat beside Carlos.

"Couldn't sleep like you and I tried to burrow under my covers again, but it just wasn't happening and I needed to pee anyway, so I got up, once I'm up, I'm up, no point in trying to get back to sleep now."

"It's gonna be a long day honey, you'll be falling asleep on Troy tonight, before you even get to spend any time together." Gabriella shrugged again.

"He'll understand, he'll probably make me sleep anyway…After Mum's funeral, when you tried to block everything out with work, I wasn't sleeping very well and Troy would take me back to his after school everyday and hold me for an hour while I slept, it probably would've been longer had I not woken up everyday knowing I needed to pick the twins up by at certain time. I don't know why, 'cause most of the time I'm fine sleeping by myself, but over that time, the only way I could sleep was in Troy's arms."

"Remind me to thank him again later when I see him… He's a keeper Gabi; don't let him go anytime soon."

"I won't Dad, he means way too much." Carlos smiled as he pulled Gabriella into a hug, his baby girl was in love and it didn't take a genius to work out _this_ love, was true love.

"Things are going to change around here Gabriella, but one thing I won't change is you and Troy. He's been the only solidly constant thing in your life recently and I couldn't take that away from you, I'll promise you that."

**TGTGTGTG**

The day had been fantastic, the best they'd all had in a long time, but she was fading and fading fast and Troy realised that if he was going to give her his ring today, he needed to do it now. She was curled up next to him with her head resting in his lap and a hot water bottle resting against her stomach, not because she was cold, but because her period had come and put a downer on the day. She'd taken some painkillers when the cramps had first come and hadn't seemed too bothered by them after that, but as the day went on and her early morning had caught up with her, so did the cramps and as she started to curl up into a tighter ball, it was clear she was suffering and so Troy had decided it was time for them to turn in for the night.

When they'd arrived back at his though, Gabriella had had other plans and after taking some more painkillers and borrowing Lucille's hot water bottle, she was ready for their planned night curled up on the sofa.

"Brie sweetheart, you aren't falling asleep on me are you?"

"Mmm, almost."

"Well, we can head up to bed in a bit, but I've got something I want to give you first, so can you sit up for me?" Gabriella groaned in protest, but with Troy's help sat up leant sideways against the back of the couch so that she was facing him. "Alright, I'll be right back." He placed a kiss on her forehead and was gone before Gabriella had any chance to reply. He was back pretty quickly though, plonking himself back down next to her, pulling her legs onto his lap and turning his head to look her in the eye.

"So, I um have no idea how to say this, _at__all,_ but Anna and Mike just said I should speak from my heart so, here goes. I love you Brie, more than life itself and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I know we're only young and the rest of our life seems a long way off, but we graduate in the summer and then we'll be going off to college and well, wherever we end up I want you to know that I love you and that you'll _always_have me to fall back on, I want you to have this." Troy handed Gabriella a velvet pouch and gestured for her to open it.

"Your class ring? Troy…I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, just that you'll accept this from me as a promise that one day I will replace it with an engagement ring?" Gabriella nodded tearfully and held the necklace out to Troy.

"Put it on for me?" Nodding he took the necklace and put it on her as she moved her hair out of the way.

"I put it on the chain because I figured it'd be too big for your fingers, I've seen you try it on so many times now and your fingers have never been big enough, so I figured the chain was the best way and well…it'll be closer to your heart that way as well."

"I love it Troy and I love you too, thank you so much…for everything," Gabriella turned round and allowed Troy to pull her into a hug. He pulled back from the hug first though and cupped Gabriella's face in his hands, enabling him to look her straight in the eyes.

"I'm so glad everything is sorted out with your Dad Brie, I hated seeing you so down and low and when you collapsed…I thought I was going to lose you, that's when I knew I wanted to be with you, feeling that sense of loss and hurt, I knew I couldn't ever live without you."

"I couldn't live without you either Troy and I'm glad things are sorted with Dad too, it's kinda like a closure, but I also think we're gonna be able to mourn Mum's death properly now, all of us together." Gabriella kissed Troy soundly on the lips, before nuzzling her face into his shoulder, her tiredness that seemed to be forgotten was now clearly back with her.

"Alright beautiful, let's get you to bed."

Fifteen minutes later and the pair were cuddled down in bed, on the verge of sleep, but it seemed Gabriella still had something to say.

"Troy?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"The answer will be yes."

"What's the question?"

"When you ask me to marry you…the answer will be yes." And that was all Troy Bolton needed to fall asleep a happy man.

**TGTGTGTG**

**So it's short and I HATE it, but it's how it's turned out and you're lucky that you got this, let alone a decent chapter.**

**Like I said at the beginning I'll be taking a break from writing for fanfiction for a while now, but I'll hopefully be back in the new year.**

**It would be great if you could all review the chapter _and_ the story as a whole, give me your overall views. **

**Also, a very belated Happy birthday to Vanessa!**

**And of course, Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU, SO MUCH!**


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